Project: Little Winter
by Princessleia9977
Summary: "HYDRA wanted to recreate Bucky's serum," began Natasha, "originally they had wanted to make a clone, but that didn't pan out. So they turned to more "traditional methods." The more she talked the more Steve wanted to retch as he stared down at the red-faced newborn in the picture and traced his finger over the tiny face. Bucky had a kid and he didn't even know it. UNDER REVISION
1. Chapter 1

February 18, 2000  
Kiev, Ukraine

Alexander Pierce wrinkled his nose in annoyance upon seeing the swaddled infant. The newborn was red and wrinkled as it cried at the top of its little lungs for a mother that would never come. She was small, not quite full term and a bit underdeveloped, but she screamed as though she had the strength in the world. But no matter how young or vulnerable she was, it couldn't distract him from the fact that she was not what he had wanted at all.

Hydra had wanted to recreate the super-soldier serum, and they had seventy years ago. But it had escaped in the form of James Buchanan Barnes, and it seemed as though all of Zola's work had been for nothing. Then something truly miraculous happened. Sergeant Barnes had fallen into their arms, _quite literally._ His fall from the train might as well as have a gift from God himself as it gave them exactly what they needed to finish their work. They had forged him into the perfect weapon, the literal fist of Hydra.

But even weapons were susceptible to damage. They had realized their mistake in not attempting to recreate Zola's serum when the asset had nearly expired during a mission. It was a miracle that he had survived and it had made Pierce realize that they needed to recreate the serum at all costs. Before, the asset had been invaluable and he still was, but he was not immortal and Hydra needed to ensure that if something were to happen to him, they would have another to continue their work.

It was after that ill-fated mission in August of 1998 that Pierce had dug out all of Zola's files from storage and began the tedious task of sorting through it all hoping to find an inkling of how the serum could be theoretically replicated. Pierce couldn't help but be disturbed by what he read in those journals, but there was no denying that Zola had been a man far ahead of his time. His serum was almost exactly like that of Erskine's and had produced the same results, save for the dramatic change in appearance. But there was one draw-back; the Tesseract.

There was no way for them stabilize the serum without the cube. Gamma radiation was out of the question and Erskine's formula had died with him, and subsequently with the Captain. Even Zola had tried unsuccessfully to recreate his serum, but the exact formula he had used on Barnes had been lost in the destruction of the camp. Left behind to burn in the fire, lost to them forever.

It was at that point that Pierce knew they would have to get creative. Cloning was a relatively new field of science and Dolly the sheep gave them hope that they would be able to clone a human easily enough. But the results were flawed and all the clones died shortly after birth, forcing them to return back to the drawing board.

It had become apparent by then that the only way to recreate the serum was to breed it out through the assets offspring. It had seemed like a good idea and it seemed only logical that aspects of the serum could be passed on from father to child, or so they thought.

The pregnancy and the birth of the first child had been normal with no complications, but it became apparent in the latter half of the second trimester that the fetus had no discernible heritable traits that indicated the presence of the serum in her genetic makeup. She hadn't inherited the serum nor her fathers enhancements, much to their disbelief. It was then that they discovered that Zola's serum had no effect on the gamete cells, which meant that the serum was not a heritable trait. No matter how many women they inseminated with the assets sperm, none of them would be enhanced. It was maddening, to say the least, and Pierce had been livid when he found out that the baby would be perfectly and annoyingly- _normal._ Nothing special about her and completely useless, but even then, he could not bring himself to terminate the pregnancy.

And now staring down at the infant, he could not bring himself to end her life either. He had no idea what to do with her or what use she was of to him now, but he could tell just looking at her that she was a fighter. Premature and underdeveloped and yet she screamed as though she wanted the world to hear her.

He reached down and took her into his arms and began to rock her back and forth in an effort to quiet her screams. The weight of a baby in his arms was familiar to him as he remembered holding his own daughter like this.

"What will you do with her?" asked one of the nurses who had been silently observing from the corner of the room. Pierce continued to rock the baby girl in his arms, her cries finally starting to subside as she reached up with her tiny little hand and grasped his finger, wide grey eyes settling on him as she continued to hold his finger in her surprisingly tight grip.

"We'll keep her for now. She may be of some use to us in the future," he said as she blinked up at him. "After all, she in the Asset's daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

After the events at the Triskelion and the fall of Shield, Steve had set out to find his best friend with the help of Sam. For months, they had followed the trail of dead Hydra agents and destroyed bases, but they always seemed to be just one step behind the one-armed assassin. It was clear that Bucky was on a warpath of revenge and discovery, which was to be expected. And Steve understood why. Seventy years of torture and brainwashing was enough to make anyone go crazy and if he were in Bucky's position, he would probably be doing the same thing.

For the first few months since the fall of Shield, there had been no trace of him whatsoever. He had disappeared off the map and no one, not even Tony could find him. Wherever he was during that time, he had been laying low. Recuperating and most importantly, _remembering._ It wasn't till about six months after the Potomac that the first bodies starting appearing. It had left both him and Sam a nice trail to follow. They knew Bucky's motive and had started to see a pattern in the direction the killings were going. He was looking for information, anything that Hydra had done to him and all the things he had been forced to do.

It was December of that year when Bucky came back. Steve was coming back from a New Year's Eve party, not failing to notice his apartment door cracked open. Thinking the worst, he had gone into the apartment, shield drawn and ready for the attack. He was expecting someone to jump out from the shadows to try and kill him. However, he never expected to find Bucky sitting at his table, wearing his shirt and helping himself to a provolone and ham wrap.

Upon seeing his best friend Steve had lowered his protective stance and stared in shock at the man who resembled a sad hobo rather than the dashing Sergeant that all the dames used to swoon over. His hair was even longer than last time, and it was stringy and greasy. He obviously hadn't shaved in a while, and he had the beard to prove it. He had large bags under his eyes, and it looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.

"Buck?" he asked cautiously lowering his shield, his eyes never leaving the other man as he switched the light to the kitchen on.

Bucky looked up at him with a hauntingly familiar look in his eyes, "Hey punk," he said with a sad smile.

Steve surveyed the room before he took a cautious step forward, his hands up in the air in to show Bucky that he meant no harm. The last time he had seen Bucky, he had been the Winter Soldier and he knew that he needed to practice caution for both their sake.

"What do you-?"

"Remember?" said Bucky taking another bite of the sandwich. "Most everything."

Steve came to stand in front of his friend, almost not believing that it was really him. He wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore, it was Bucky, more or less. But all that mattered to Steve was that he was here and that he had come back to him.

"I tried to look for you," said Steve as he gently laid his hand down on the chair opposite of his friend.

"I know," said Bucky as he swept the crumbs off the table apologetically. He then rose from his seat to fetch a glass of water.

"You left quite the trail," said Steve.

"I needed answers," said Bucky as he plopped back down into the chair. "I had to know what they did to me, Stevie."

"Did you get them?" asked Steve crossing his arms.

"Not as much as I would've liked."

Steve shook his head, "I'm sure the information is out there. We just have to find it, Buck."

"You sound so sure of that."

"I am," said Steve as he rested both of his hands on the back of the seat and leaned forward. "Whatever there is to find, we'll find it. You and I together."

"You were always too dumb to run away from a fight," said Bucky. "I can see seventy years on ice hasn't taught you anything."

"I'm a slow learner," said Steve as he felt his face crack up in a smile. Right then at that moment, he was happy to have his best friend back in his life. It was something he thought he would never get back.

Bucky gave him a sad half-smile before finishing off the glass of water before picking up his half-eaten wrap.

"I sure hope you plan on cleaning this up," said Steve as he tried to lighten up the mood. He wasn't mad that Bucky had broken in and helped himself to his fridge, in fact, he was happy that he had decided to come here and see him at all considering the circumstances.  
"I don't even know how you survive punk, there's no food in this apartment," said Bucky as he turned his attention back to the wrap.

"Yeah, it has been a while since I've been grocery shopping," admitted Steve, "in fact, that's wrap has been sitting in there for a long time. I was gonna throw it out cause I wasn't sure how old it was."

Bucky stopped mid-bite and examined his ham wrap before dumping it in the trashcan, "and you mention that now."

Steve laughed, and for the first time in months, it was actually natural. And it felt good.

Slowly things settled down into a semi-normal routine for the two super-soldiers over the course of the next few weeks. Although Bucky was not the same man, he was no longer the Winter Soldier, he was someone in-between. Sometimes he would act just like he would've seventy years ago, and other times he would lock himself in his room and not talk to Steve for days. But he was making progress, and that was good.

He had started to take better care of his hygiene, shaving his beard and taking regular showers. He had trimmed his hair, it was still long but not matted or greasy anymore. Bucky had thought about cutting it to the length it had been during the war, but he just couldn't quite bring himself to do it. He wasn't that Bucky anymore and he certainly wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore, so he decided on a trim and took the initiative of washing and combing it.

Once in a while, Steve would get a call about another Hydra base and was tasked with clearing it out with the Avengers. Bucky came with him every time, eager to find more answers and help weed what was left of Hydra out. His memories and his experience gave them the upper hand that they needed and in the end, they would sort out all the files they found. Every base they took down meant more and more files to sift through and decrypt.

Even though most all of the files were leaked, there were still obstacles and fail-safes that Hydra had put in place to protect the information. What files they did have failed to provide them with adequate knowledge of everything they had done to Bucky, and that was not good enough for the both of them. Bucky needed to know everything they had done to turn him into what he was now and he wasn't about to stop because of some missing files.

So they both searched for anything that could pertain to what had happened in that span of time, but Steve was starting to lose hope that they would find much anything else. He had a feeling that the files they were looking for had most likely been destroyed as soon as Hydra had been exposed.

But then Natasha had called him one day to inform him that Shield had decrypted some of the files found in Ukraine and that he needed to come in and take a look at what they found. Steve had been able to gather from her tone of voice that whatever it was, it was pretty serious.

"Alright, let me go get Bucky and we'll be over in a few."

"I think it would be better if you came _alone_ ," she said, her voice low as Steve glanced a look over at Bucky, who was busy watching a cooking competition on the television, much to Steve's amusement.

"Why?"

"Just trust me on this."

"You're starting to worry me, Nat," said Steve as he lowered his voice. Bucky was too engrossed by the colored television set to pay him any attention.

"Just get over here and don't bring Bucky," she said before ending the call.

Steve stared down at the phone for a few seconds before he slid it into his pocket and grabbed his wallet off his nightstand. Whatever Natasha wanted to tell him, it didn't sound good.

"I just got a call from Natasha," said Steve. "I'm going to meet up with her."

"Okay," he said not even sparing him a glance as he watched the competition. Steve could tell that Bucky was not in a particularly social mood today, which was sometimes the case with him.

"There's money on the counter, feel free to order take out," said Steve as he walked out the door.

Steve was in a relatively decent mood as he drove through the city on his motorcycle, although he couldn't help the pit that beginning to form in his stomach. He had no idea what was in those files from Ukraine, he just hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

Natasha was waiting for him outside the newly appointed Shield headquarters. She looked serious as she stared at him with her shades on and her hands shoved in her leather coat, a slight frown on her face.

"What did you find?" he asked as she led him into the building and into an isolated wardroom. As soon as the door was shut she handed him a stack of files that were written in Russian.

"Natasha-?" he looked down at the files before looking back up at her. He knew how to speak a little Russian, but reading it was a different story.

"We found information pertaining to the Winter Soldier in the files brought back from the last mission," said Natasha as she sat down opposite of the Captain. "Those files were found in an abandoned base just outside of Kiev."

Steve stared down at the foreign writing with dread and confusion as he tried to interpret the symbols.

"It means Little Winter," said Natasha upon seeing Steve's perplexed face.

Confusion spread over Steve's features as he opened up the file only to find an old and faded picture of an infant. Something clicked in Steve followed by a sick feeling, he prayed to God it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Hydra wanted to recreate Bucky's serum," began Natasha. "Originally, they had wanted to make a clone, but that didn't pan out. So they turned to more _traditional methods."_

The more she talked the more Steve wanted to retch as he stared down at the red-face newborn in the picture and traced his finger over the tiny face.

This kid belonged to the Winter Soldier. Bucky had a kid that was created by Hydra and he didn't even know it.

"When?" he asked hoarsely as he pried his eyes away from the photo.

"She was born on February 18, 2000," replied Natasha.

Steve was positive that if Bucky had known he would've remembered by now, which meant that he had absolutely no idea that he had a kid out there somewhere.

"He doesn't know," said Steve, more to himself than to her.

She shook her head, "no, he wouldn't have known. Everything about it was pretty secretive from the looks of it."

Steve was only half-listening to her as he stared down at the photo, etching every little detail of it into his memory. He felt utterly sick.

"How many?" he asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

"The experiment was a failure. She was the only birth that resulted from the project, not counting the clones."

That was a relief to hear that there wasn't an entire army of super-soldier children running around. That was not something that Steve ever wanted to have to deal with, _ever._

Just one. Just one kid. That was all.

"How was it a failure?"

"She was born with no trace of the serum, but Hydra apparently had decided to keep her instead of disposing of her. I guess they thought she might prove handy in the future."

Steve was angered by the whole situation. Hydra had violated his friend and took something important from him, and this little girl had been nothing but an experiment in their eyes. Was she ever been shown love? Was she even alive? What would Bucky think? All these questions nagged at Steve as he continued to stare down at the infant.

Of course, she wouldn't be an infant anymore, would she? She'd be a teenager now.

"We have to find her," he said sternly. He had to find his best friends daughter; he had to save her.

"We'll try our best to locate her, Steve," said Natasha.

"Not try, we will find her."

"There's no guarantee that she's even alive, and if she is we have no idea where she is or what condition she's in."

"You know that once Buck knows he's not going to stop until she's found, right?" asked Steve.

At his words, Natasha's face grew solemn and stern as she stared back at him from across the table.

"You weren't going to tell him, were you?" asked Steve with an eerie calmness as he tried his best to control his anger.

"Steve-" began Natasha before Steve interrupted her.

"He deserves to know. You have no right to keep this from him," said Steve, his voice steadily rising with irritation.

"We will, but not right now," said Natasha. "He's in a delicate position right now and we can't afford to lose him again. Even his psychologist and his doctor agree that this sort of news would be upsetting to him and-"

"This isn't about you guys losing him, this is about her," said Steve as he set the photograph back on the table and pointed at it for emphasis. "His own flesh and blood who he has a right to know about."

Natasha said nothing as he shoved the picture back into the file before snatching up the rest of them and storming out of the conference room. For seventy years Bucky had been kept in the dark and Steve was damned if he was going have even more information kept from him, especially when it had to do with something personal like this.

Buck had a right to know, even if it was upsetting to him, he still had a right to know about _her._

The files in his hand felt weighted and heavy and only served to remind Steve of his anger over the situation as he found himself making his way over to the gym. He really needed to blow off some steam before he went back home to face Bucky. He needed a distraction, a way to take his mind off the photograph in his pocket. And he knew the perfect way to do that.

He allowed himself to take his anger out on a punching bag. It was the distraction that he needed at that moment.

"Damn. What did the bag ever do to you?" asked Sam Wilson as he sauntered into the room, an exercise bag in his hands and a Nike water bottle in the other. Ever since he had officially become a Shield employee, he had been taking advantage of all the benefits and amenities that were offered to him, including the training rooms. Although they both still enjoyed their runs together through D.C. every now and then and at that point, Sam and Bucky were even starting to get along despite the fact that Bucky had totaled his car and had tried to kill him.

Steve huffed out as he stopped and reached for his water bottle taking a swig and wiping the sweat off his face.

"What's up man?" asked Sam as he dumped his bag on the bench.

"You know the files from Kiev?" asked Steve as he took his gloves off. "The ones that were decrypted?"

"Yeah, I heard about them. Why? You find anything in there about Bucky?"

"He has a daughter," was all Steve said as he reached into his pocket and handed it over to him before telling him the entire story start to finish hoping that he would be able to provide some wisdom on the subject, particularly how he was gonna tell Buck.

"That's messed up," said Sam once Steve was finished. "That's- that's just sick. And he has no idea?"

"No, if he had known he would've remembered by now," said Steve as he placed the picture back in the file. "That's not exactly something you can forget."

"No, no that's not really something I'd be able to ever forget either. I mean this is big, really big. What are you going to tell him?"

"Honestly? I have no idea," said Steve as he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "I was hoping you could give me some insight."

Sam grinned despite himself, "you're just saying that because I was a counselor."

"And because you're my friend," replied Steve. "And I trust you."

Steve would have never been able to take down Hydra and find Bucky if it wasn't for Sam. He trusted him and he knew that Sam would always have his back, no matter what.

"I don't know either, Steve. At this point, you just gotta tell him and see if he remembers anything and go from there. It's not going to be easy, but just take it slow and see what happens."

"I don't think he's gonna take it well," said Steve.

"You don't know that for sure," replied Sam. "You won't know until you tell him."

"He's gonna want to find her," said Steve, his eyes drifting back to the files on the bench. "Even if he didn't want anything to do with her, he'd still want to get her out."

"That is a possibility and you can cross that bridge when you get to it, but right now, you should just focus on telling him. Once that's done with, you can figure out what your next move will be."

"I already know what my next move will be. I'm going to get her out of there," said Steve. "I know it won't be easy, but it's something I have to do. She may not want my help and she might be too far gone at this point to be saved, but I'm prepared to take that risk and I have feeling that Bucky will too."

Steve scooped up the files from the bench before turning to look back at Sam once more, guilt flooding his features. "I know I have no right to ask you this-"

"You don't have to ask me, Steve. Of course, I'll help you find her. Nobody deserves this, let alone a child."

999

It was late by the time Steve got home, so he quietly made his way into the apartment not knowing if Bucky was already in bed or not. The television had been turned off and there was takeout sitting on the counter waiting for him. The dirty dishes in the sink let him know that Bucky had already eaten as he opened the brown bag and peered in at the contents.

"I got us Italian from that restaurant a few blocks down the street," said Bucky as he meandered into the kitchen, his hair dripping wet around his shoulders and his face cleanly shaven. "I got you eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti. Hope you don't mind."

"No tiramisu?" asked Steve with a grin as he unloaded the boxed-up food.

"I-I didn't realize I liked tiramisu," said Bucky with a frown, his eyebrows scrunched up as he tried to remember that far back. Steve hadn't realized before then that Bucky hadn't remembered his favorite Italian dessert.

"Yeah, it was your favorite," said Steve. "Remember we used to go to Joe's and his ma would always make it fresh just for you?"

"I remember Joe," began Bucky, uncertainty flooding his features as he tried his hardest to remember. "He owned that restaurant down near the post office, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but we always just called it Joe's. You loved that place because they made the best-"

"-tiramisu in all of New York," finished Bucky, his eyes lighting up momentarily as the memories came flooding back. "I remember, my folks loved that place. We always went for my birthday."

"We used to go on dates there too. Remember when you tried to set me up with Marlene's friend from school?"

"And she tried to escape out the window but got stuck," said Bucky with a grin. "Marlene and I had to pull her out by her arms. I think her name was Georgeann or something like that. She never talked to us again after that."

"I think she was too embarrassed," said Steve. He had been hurt at the time that his date had tried to escape out of the window only a few minutes after meeting him but looking back he now found the whole thing rather comical.

Bucky grinned at the memory as he opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice before grabbing a glass, "you ever find out what happened to Joe's?"

"Joe and his ma had to close the restaurant a few years after the war. I think it's a Starbucks now."

Bucky shook his head as he poured the last of the OJ into the glass and took a swig, "I swear I saw three of those things just walking down the block. The coffee there isn't that good anyways and it's overpriced if you ask me."

"It's called inflation, Bucky. Everything to us is overpriced."

"Yeah, well I miss the days when you could buy coffee with just a dime. Call me old fashioned," said Bucky as he leaned back against the counter, his eyes zeroing in on the stack of files that Steve left on the counter. "What are those?"

Steve looked over at the files, his food forgotten about as he grabbed the stack in his hands. There were three files, but only one contained the information that was pertinent to the case. The rest contained only medical records for both the mother and the child as well as a detailed genetic sample taken from the infant that proved she did not inherit the effects of Zola's serum. Steve had taken the time to skim through everything after his talk with Sam, so he was familiar with everything in the files, which did not surmount to much.

"These are files that were recovered from Kiev a few days ago. Shield just got done decrypting them," said Steve as Bucky's eyes narrowed considerably.

"And-?" asked Bucky, his usually bright blue eyes darkening. "Did they find something?"

"I think you should take a look for yourself," said Steve as he held the files out for Bucky to grab. "You're not gonna like it, but you should know."

Bucky grabbed ahold of the files, his eyes lingering over the Russian words as he opened the first file only to find an old worn out photograph of an infant. The baby was swaddled, but its face was clearly visible as it looked up at the camera with grey milky eyes that almost all newborns had.

"Steve-?" began Bucky with a frown as he looked up at his friend, confusion written on his face. "What is this?"

"Read the file," was all Steve said.

Bucky frowned as he moved the photograph out of the way and began to read what was written on the file, a sinking feeling low in the pit of his stomach settled over him the more he read. His metal fingers tightened into a fist as he looked back at the photograph of the infant, who was apparently his daughter.

He wished he could say he was surprised, but he knew that Hydra had wanted to replicate Zola's serum and he knew that this was a reasonable and logical way to go about it.

"How many?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly as he tore his gaze away from the photograph.

"Just her."

"There has to be more," said Bucky with a frown. They probably had an entire army of super soldier kids by now.

"The project was considered a failure and permanently shut down when they found out that she didn't have your enhancements. Further research found that the serum that was given to you by Zola was not heritable. She's the only birth that resulted from the project."

Bucky nodded, relieved that she was the only one. He was also relieved to hear that the serum was not heritable. He was glad to hear that Zola's work and legacy would die with him.

"Is she alive?" he finally asked. He knew that there was a good chance that she was dead at that point. Hydra was capable of doing the unthinkable and they would logically try to cover up their dirty work any way they could, even if it meant tossing a pink bundle into the river.

"As far as we know," replied Steve. "She was moved shortly after her birth. She was supposed to be sent to Sokovia for training, but when the project turned out to be a failure, they decided to send her to the states."

"Where in the states?" pressed Bucky. Whether the girl was dead or not, Bucky knew he needed to find out more. And if she was alive, he knew he had a moral obligation to find her and get her out.

Steve shook his head, "we have no idea. Shield's trying to find out more information, but I don't know how much they will be able to find at this point."

Bucky nodded, his hand coming to rest over his mouth as he stared down at the file in his other hand. His gaze fell on the photograph once again, but he wasn't really looking as much as he was analyzing what this meant specifically for him. He knew the implications this entire situation presented, but he wasn't exactly sure how to react to the news.

Hydra had created her without his knowledge or consent and they had stolen her from him. She was just another thing to be added to the list of all the things those bastards had stolen from him, and yet of all the things that had been taken from him, this one hurt the most.

"Steve I-" he began, uncertainty weighing him down as he tore his gaze away from the file, unable to look at it any more. He already had enough tortured memories to last him a lifetime at that point, he didn't need to be reminded of what he had lost anymore. He already knew that he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night, the baby in the picture all that he could think about. "I should've known they would've done something like this. They were obsessed with recreating the serum. All those tests and samples-"

His metal fist tightened, the mechanical whir all that he could hear as his mind traveled back to the laboratory where he had been kept. He remembered all the bodily samples they had taken from him while strapped down the chair, but his mind had been far too scrambled to make sense of it all. The memory itself was hazy, but Bucky remembered what they had taken from him that day. And know he knew what had happened with all those samples.

"I have to find her," he said after a few moments of deep, contemplative silence. His fists were still tight against his palm as he dared a glance back up at Steve. "I can't leave her with them, not now that I know."

"I know, Buck. We'll find her together," assured Steve.

Bucky nodded, although the movement felt mechanical as he grabbed the file off the counter, determined to find out everything there was to know about the project. That night he didn't sleep, he just held the picture in his hands as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. He was still trying to process everything in the file. He had so many questions and thoughts running through his head.

Where was she? What was her name? Did Hydra even give her a name? He wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't as a means of dehumanizing her, just as they had done to him. He had been nameless for the entirety of his stay with Hydra, he hadn't even known until he had escaped that he was known as the Winter Soldier. He had always just been an asset, nothing more and nothing less. But this girl? Did she have a name?

He read through the files, hoping to find a name. When he had found no mention of a name, he read through them once again, memorizing every little detail he could.

Things had finally been starting to look up for him. He had most of his memories back and he was free from Hydra. He thought that he now he would be able to heal and try to leave the past in the past, but just when Bucky started to believe that he could truly be free from Hydra, this popped up. And it made things just that much harder for him.

But Bucky knew how to overcome challenges and obstacles. It had been a necessity for him when he had been the Winter Soldier and if there was one thing that he knew how to do, it was strategize.

So, he started to formulate a plan.

It said she had been born in Kiev, at least that was something. There was only one base in Ukraine, and it had been cleared out by Shield, so that meant that she had been moved to another location, just like Steve said. But where in the states was she? Most Hydra operations within the US had already been weeded out, but that didn't mean there weren't more out there. And if she was moved to stateside, then there had to be some sort of documentation. Some sort of-

His gaze fell towards the names that were listed in the files.

Charles Levine, MD, Natalia Andreyevna Tolbanov, Dr. Julian Bernotus, Dr. Sophia Hanssen, and Dr. Hinata Tanaka.

All these people had been scientists and doctors, and yet he didn't recognize any of the names listed. Although the name Charles Levine did sound familiar. He seemed to remember one of his caretakers back in the early seventies that also had the last name Levine, but he couldn't remember much else about the man. They could be the same person, or they could be related. It wasn't too far out of the realm of impossibility.

"Charles Levine," said Bucky the next morning as he plopped the file down in front of Steve, who had been in the middle of eating his cereal. "I had a caretaker back in the seventies who also had the name Levine."

"You think they're the same person?" asked Steve as he skimmed over the file.

"Or a relative," suggested Bucky as Steve shook his head.

"The name Levine's a fairly common name, Buck. You sure this isn't just a coincidence?"

"There is no such thing as coincidences with Hydra. Trust me, they're connected."

Steve sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "so that's where we start?"

"Good of place as any," replied Bucky as he slumped into the opposite chair.

"I'll call Tony then."

AN: I wrote this story before Civil War came out so just imagine this story as an AU. Civil War never happened and Bucky has a daughter. Also, as of 2019 this story is under revision.


	3. Chapter 3

"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" came Tony's sing-song voice over the phone.  
"Tony, we need you to do some research for us," said Steve as he sat around the table with Sam and Bucky with the phone on speaker.

"I'm sorry, you seem to have mistaken me for someone else, do I look like your personal servant Capsicle?" he said sarcastically.

"Steve rolled his eyes, "we just need you to look up a couple things for us."

There was an audible sigh over the phone, "Fine, what is it?"

"Charles Levine, he would've worked for Hydra about 15 years ago," said Sam as he pulled his chair in closer.

"What's this for anyways?" asked Tony after a few moments of silence.

Bucky shifted uncomfortable in his seat and casted his eyes downward into his lap. Ever since finding out that he was responsible for Howard and Maria's death he had felt guilty and had kept his distance from Tony and Tony had kept his. He needed Tony's help, but he knew well enough to stay clear of the millionaire whose parent's he had offed on Hydra's orders.

"Just tracking down some members of Hydra," Steve said into the phone; leaving Bucky out of it.

"I can't find anything on a Charles Levine so far, but I did find a Dr. Arnold Levine, a Neuropsychologist that started working for Hydra in 1969 until his retirement in 1984."

Bucky's head immediately snapped up when Tony mentioned the man's name, recognition written all over his face. The Winter Soldier had had many handlers over the years, but he clearly remembered the tall grey haired man with the horn-rimmed glasses that would attend to him before and after missions.

"Where is he now?" asked Steve.  
"He passed away from a heart-attack in 1993," came Tony's voice.  
"What about-," Steve said he grabbed the file that had been in front of Bucky, "a Natalia Andreyev?"

Bucky leaned forward in his seat at the mention of the name, the woman's name was listed on the file along with a few others. He hoped that this woman could be found so he could have some answers.

"There's really not much information on her, she worked for Hydra in the late 90's in Ukraine before she disappeared, and her body was later discovered in a motel in New York in April of 2000."

Something in Bucky's head clicked and the memory came flooding back into his head.

"She tried to defect," Bucky said softly as he started to relieve the newly unlocked memory. The memory had hit him like a train and it brought him back to that night in New York when she had been his mission. He remembered entering the room through the fire escape and walking into the bathroom where she had just finished her shower. He remembered the look of surprise and fear on her face as she looked up and saw his reflection behind her in the mirror. He felt nothing as he used his metal arm to wrap his fingers around her neck and squeezed.

She had struggled to no avail before she became still in his arms, her lifeless brown eyes staring up at him sadly; as if she knew something he didn't.

"What about a Julian Bernotus?" asked Steve desperately.

"Dead as well," came Tony's voice, "poor bastard was gunned down while at the park with his daughter."

Bucky hung his head in shame as the memory of the man and little girl tossing the ball to a dog came flooding back into his mind as well. A well-aimed shot to the head had sent the surrounding people running and screaming and the little girl fatherless. She was probably scarred for life…

"So basically everyone important that ever worked on this project is dead? Except for maybe this Charles Levine?" asked Sam incredulously.  
"Pretty much, whatever this project was Hydra really wanted to cover it up."

"Are you sure there isn't anything about a Charles Levine?" asked Sam, "Surely there has to be something about him in the files Natasha leaked."

"Possibly," came Tony's voice, "but a lot of these have yet to be decrypted and files can be erased from databases, of course not totally erased," said Tony, "once somethings on the internet, it's out there forever. But still a pain to find."

"So were basically looking for a ghost?" asked Sam as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Was Dr. Levine ever married?" asked Steve after a few moments; his face determined.

"In 1953 he married Susan Lockley, who was half his age. She's still alive and residing in Falls Church, VA."  
"That's a 20 minute drive," said Sam leaning forward in his chair.

"What the address?" said Steve.  
"1309 Birch St, NE."  
"Thanks Tony," said Steve as all three of them grabbed their coats.  
"Yeah yeah, just don't make this a habit, you know I always-," he didn't have time to finish his sentence before Steve hit the end button on the phone.

Within a few minutes they were all piled up in Sam's car heading east on I-66, Sam and Steve sat in the front while Bucky took the back seat. Nobody was really in a talking mood and it left Bucky with some air to breathe and think.

Bucky had never really wanted kids, it was just something that didn't appeal to him like most and it seemed almost impossible after the war and especially after becoming the Winter Soldier. It was something he had accepted as never happening to him, and he was okay with that. He didn't even know if he was mentally capable of providing for someone else after all he had been through.

His parents and sister had been long dead by that point, and Rebecca's family didn't feel like family to him. Steve was his only family as of right now, and there was her. But could he even really consider her family? They shared nothing except for DNA, but that didn't make them family.

 **"Hey punk, thought I'd find you here," said Bucky coming to sit next to Steve on the park bench.  
Steve barely paid him any attention as he watched a father and his son fly a kite on the other side of the park and then he'd look down at his art book and back up.  
Bucky leaned in to get a better look at his friend's art and whistled, "Did you do that now? It's good," he said as he admired the shading and the blending of the pencil strokes.  
"Do you ever think about ever having kids?" Steve asked out of the blue as he carefully used his finger to blend the shading on the kite.  
Bucky shrugged and leaned back against the bench, surprised by his friend's question.  
"Nah, kids just really aren't my thing. What about you?" he said as he watched the kid laugh and point up at the sky, his smiling father kneeling next to him.  
Steve paused his drawing and looked at Bucky, "Yeah, but I don't know if I'd be any good."  
Bucky laughed and punched his friends arm, "you'd be a great dad, Steve."  
"Oh really?" he said laughing as he continued with his art.  
"I'm not kidding," said Bucky putting a lazy hand over Steve's shoulder, "any kid would be lucky to have you as a dad."  
"And what about you?"  
"You know me," he said shrugging, "as long as I have a dame on my arm I'll be good."**

The memory felt like someone else's, but it still rang clearly through his head. Steve had always wanted kids and Bucky hadn't, it was that simple. But life was one big ironic joke, and now he was the one with the kid and Steve didn't.

"Is this it? Came Steve's voice from the passenger seat as they pulled into the driveway of a large and very nice looking house. It was obvious that the Levine family were wealthy folk from the looks of the fancy home and the fact that they lived in a gated community.

"Yeah, let's see if Mrs. Levine is home."  
Sam and Steve piled out of the car while Bucky remained seated in the back staring at the beautiful blue house in front of him.  
"You coming, Bucky?" asked Steve opening the door.

Bucky took a deep breath before unbuckling his seat belt and stepping out of the car. The home reminded him of his Ma and how she had always wanted to live in a nice big fancy home like this one. Not that they minded their apartment in Brooklyn, but it would've been something else to live in a house.

The door opened to reveal a young blond woman with a yapping Chihuahua in her arms, "How may I help you gentlemen?" she asked curtly, her baby blue eyes widening at the form of Steve.

"Is Mrs. Levine home?" asked Steve politely with a smile plastered on his face.  
The poor girl became red-faced at the sight of Captain America, obviously a fan of one of Earth's mightiest heroes.  
"Uh y-yes of course," she said stepping aside, "please come in," she said gesturing them in.

"Thank you," said Steve as we walked into the decorative foyer of the house.  
"I- I'll inform her of your presence," she turning to walk away but ended up running up the stairwell.

"Nice place," said Sam he came to stand in front of a framed picture of a Renaissance painting that Bucky from when he and Steve were in art class.

"Well well," said a voice from the doorway, "when Lisa told me Captain America was here I thought she had finally gone off the deep end," said the older woman as she descended the stairs. She wore an expensive looking frock with a pearl necklace, her white hair was curled and pinned up and she had quite an expensive looking broach on. She was an aged woman but she wore it well.

"Would any of you gentlemen like tea or water" she said leading them into the living room and gesturing for them to sit.  
"Oh we're fine ma'am, we only came to ask you a few questions about your late husband's work."  
"Arnie's work?" she asked incredulously, obviously gob smacked by the question.  
"Did you know who he was working for in 1969?" asked Sam as he took a seat on the couch.

"I'm sorry, but what is this for?" she asked suspiciously as she looked between the three men, her eyes lingering over Bucky's form. While Sam and Steve were clean shaven and their hair short and neat, Bucky's hair was still long and he hadn't bothered to shave in a while. He knew his appearance tended to set people on edge, so he sent her a small smile to appear friendlier.

Sam snuck a glance at Steve and Bucky before turning back to her, "your husband consulted on with Shield back in the 60's, we're just trying to find out more information ma'am."  
"Oh," she said pulling her hand to her chest, "he never told me about that."  
"It was classified," said Sam, the lie rolling off his tongue easily.

"Well that makes sense I guess," she said setting her cup down, "In 1969 he got a job here in D.C. working for government research or something like that. Honestly I don't know why Shield would ever need a neuro-psychologist," she said laughing.

"I see you have children, Mrs. Levine," said Sam as he pointed to a family picture on the wall.  
"Oh just my son Charlie," she said smiling at Sam, "he was born the same year we moved to D.C. He's a geneticist now, graduated top of his class," she said proudly.

So Charles had been Arnold's son, Bucky had been right about the connection between the two. Charles Levine had been the Hydra scientist that created the girl for the purpose of obtaining the serum, but he had failed and failure was not an option in Hydra. Bucky was surprised that this man wasn't dead like all the others that had worked on the project. Why wasn't he dead?

"And where is your son now?"  
"He's now working as a fertility counselor, helping people have children and what not."

Bucky tried not to snort at the irony at that little piece of information as he coughed and looked down at the Chihuahua that was currently staring up at him from the floor.

"Could you possibly give us his work address? We'd like to ask him a few questions if you don't mind."  
"Oh sure!" she said reaching for a piece of paper and writing something on it.  
"He should be on lunch break right about now," she said handing over the pink sticky note to Steve who pocketed it, "I'm sure he won't mind."  
"Is there anything else I can do for you gentlemen?" she asked flashing her pearly white teeth at both Sam and Steve.  
"No ma'am, that's all," said Steve standing up and shaking her hand.  
"Well Mr. Rogers, don't hesitate to come by if you have any more questions," she said slipping another post-it note with her number into his pocket before patting his chest, "and please, call me Susan."

Steve smiled politely at the woman, overlooking the fact that she had just tried to flirt with him.  
"It was nice to meet you Susan," Steve said as they walked out of the house and headed towards the car.  
"That woman has no idea, does she" said Sam shaking his head.  
"Not from what I can tell," said Steve buckling his seat belt.  
"Hey Buck, ya ok?" asked Sam turning to look back at him.

Bucky swallowed his spit before silently nodding his head and buckling his seat belt. In all honestly, he wasn't okay at all. This was such a strange occurrence and he was still trying to wrap his head around it and the more he tried to make sense of it all the more aggravated and hurt he became about the situation. He could still hardly believe that the screaming infant in the picture was his. It was such a strange feeling, one that he was not accustomed to. After years of being the winter soldier, such emotion had become alien to him. And why wouldn't it? He had no one when he was the winter soldier, all he had were his orders and the mission. He was a soldier, not a father and definitely not a family man.

He reached into his pocket where the picture had been safely kept and looked down once again upon the infant. Honestly he couldn't see much of a resemblance, her skin was red and her head was mashed from having been just born. She looked like a potato, but still he could not explain the feeling that started in his chest and spread outward upon the sight of her. He caught himself wondering what she looked like now that she was a teenager, did she look like him? What was her name? And most importantly...  
Where was she?


	4. Chapter 4

Washington D.C.  
Hydra base  
2005

Alexander Pierce was not a morning person. And he didn't bother showing it to people at this ungodly hour of the morning, and especially when he didn't get around to having his morning cup of coffee. He really didn't want to be there, but there was paperwork to go over and mission reports that needed to be filed and of course the fact that Shield was practically breathing down his back constantly.

He went to pick up the stack of papers waiting for him when he heard a soft humming coming from under the desk he was standing in front. He bent down on his knees and peeked under the desk to see a small child with a large stuffed bear on the floor coloring on blank sheets of paper. She was humming quietly as she scribbled on the white paper occasionally pushing a strand of brown hair behind her hair.

He sighed and stood up, "why is there a child under my desk?" he asked pointedly to the other people in the room. At his words, a young woman perked up and made her way towards Pierce.

"I am so sorry Director," she said grabbing the child and hoisting her up, ignoring the whining protests from the child as she tried to get out of her arms and back towards her coloring.

"Who is she?" he asked sternly, not approving of a child on the base. Hydra was many things, but a daycare was not one of them.

"Her name is Yelena," the woman holding a death grip on the child's shoulder as the child squirmed under the woman's harsh glare.

Pierce raised his eyebrows in surprise, remembering the failed project to make more enhanced humans from the Assets DNA. It had been one of Hydra's most disastrous experiment, it was such a complete failure that it had been swept under the rug and pretty much all information pertaining to it had been locked away, and the child that had been named Yelena had been given to handlers to take care of in case he ever needed a bargaining chip. He hadn't bothered to see the child since and he had almost forgot about her completely. He had much more important things to tend to than the girl. He honestly didn't know why he hadn't just left her at the door of some Orphanage seeing as she had nothing to offer Hydra.

The woman was just about the leave with the squirming child when the girl sent him a pleading look as she was being pulled along by the woman.

"Wait," he said suddenly as he stared into her frightened eyes.  
The woman stopped to glance at him, her arm letting go of the child. The child pulled away from the woman's grip and rubbed her arm, which would no doubt bruise later.

"Leave her here," he said, his curiosity for the child growing.

"Are you sure Sir? I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

"No, its fine," he said nodding at her. The woman seemed to have no problem leaving the child with the Director. She was probably happy to be free of her for a while. The child stood in the doorway hugging her stuffed bear close to her chest and staring up at with large brown eyes.

"Hello Yelena," he said offering his large calloused hand out to her. She stared at it before cautiously reaching out her dainty small hands to shake his.

"I know you don't know who I am, but my name is Alexander Pierce," he said.

"I know who you are Mr. Pierce," she said hugging her stuffed bear even more tightly to her.

He was vaguely reminded of his own daughter when she was child at the small action, but quickly dismissed it before looking over her once again.  
"So, how have your handlers been treating you?" he said looking her over for any other signs of abuse other than her bruised arm. She looked a little on the small size for a child her age, and her clothes were old and worn. Probably the result of a thrift store purchase from the looks of them.

He noticed the cautioned look in her eyes before she said, "fine."

He nodded his head at the obvious lie before asking, "What were you doing under my desk?"  
The little girl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "I was hiding from Ms. Coleman."

"Is Ms. Coleman mean to you?" he asked tapping his fingers on his desk.

Yelena paused at the question, her forehead scrunching up in confusion at the question. She wasn't used to nice treatment from her handlers and to her that was normal. Her perplexed expression made Pierce sigh as he motioned her forward and bent down on his knees to pull up the girl's ratty shirt to expose the various bruises littering her delicate skin.

"Who did this to you?" he asked sternly as he pulled the shirt down.

The girl didn't answer him as she pulled her arms behind her back and refused to meet his cold and calculating eyes.

"Yelena," he said slowly, "you can tell me, you won't be in any trouble if you do."

"Thomas," she said softly.

"And why would he do something like that?" he asked inquiring further into the incident. It wasn't like he actually cared that her handlers were abusive, which was something that didn't surprise him. They were Hydra handlers, they weren't ordered to be nice to her, just keep an eye on her.

"He's always angry at me," she said as she suddenly found her voice, "I never do anything to him and he always treats me badly. I've tried so hard to please him, but he's never happy."

Pierce pursed his lips before he stood up once again and returned to his desk where he leaned forward and studied the nervous girl intently. He would be lying if he didn't say he felt sorry for the girl, she couldn't control the circumstances of her birth and had not been given any opportunity to prove her worth. Surely she could be put to better use than being thrown from handler to handler like unwanted trash.

"Do you know what I do for a living?" he asked after carefully considering his options.  
"They told me that you're the Director of Hydra," she said softly.  
"And what do you know of Hydra?"  
"You guys want to protect the world."  
"Anything else?" he asked, testing her knowledge.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her feet.  
"Come with me," he said standing up and offering her his hand. She timidly grabbed a hold of his large calloused hand and let him guide her out of the room. This was probably crazy what he was about to do, but he had to show her. He had to show her what Hydra really was.

"Where are we going?" she asked looking up at him.

"We're going to visit a very old friend of mine."

"Oh," she said and then paused before saying, "what's his name?"

"He doesn't have one."

"But how can you not have a name?" she asked innocently, "everybody has a name."

"Not this man," he said before coming to stop in front of a door and entering in his code. The door opened and he led the girl through into the cargo room.

"What is this place?" she asked wide-eyes as she turned around to look at the place.

"It's a storage room, you're not to touch anything, okay?"  
"Okay," she said taking his hand once again and letting him lead her to the back of the room.

He led her to the back of the room where a cylindrical shaped box stood. It reminded Yelena of a coffin, but not like the wooden ones, no this one was metal and a little bit bigger.

"What is it?" she asked looking up at Pierce. Pierce leaned down and grabbed her under the armpits before hoisting her up so she could see what was in the box.

She gasped when she realized that she was looking at a sleeping man, his features reflected by the blue hue of the light, his face peaceful with sleep.

Yelena reached out a curious hand to touch the glass separating her from him, slowly tracing her finger over his face. He had long brown hair that barely reached the ends of his shoulders and a pale complexion, paler than hers because of a lack of sun exposure. He had a cleft in his chin, just like Thomas, but his had stubble on it from not shaving.

"Who is he?" she asked looking back up at the Director.

"He's the fist of Hydra," Pierce stated as he lowered her down onto her own feet.

"You see," he said lowering himself down to her level, "he was created by Hydra to be a weapon. His work has shaped who we are today, we would not be here if it were not for him."

"Why is he in there?"

"He's just sleeping, we'll wake him when he is needed."

"But what if he wakes up before then?"

"He won't because we control his sleep so only we can wake him up."

"But he doesn't have a name," she said.

Pierce sighed at her insistence that he have a name before saying, "if him having a name is that important, then I guess you may call him Zima."

"Zima," she said testing out the name herself a few times, "I like it."

Pierce smiled at her naivety and innocence that would soon be taken from her. She was such a curious little girl, which was so ironic considering who her biological father was. But soon Hydra would strip that away from her, and she was going to have to be ready for that.

"Yelena," came the woman's voice from the door, "it's time to go."

"Go on," he said motioning his head towards her handler.  
"Goodbye Mr. Pierce, goodbye Zima," she said addressing both him and the cryo-tube before running to the woman in the doorway.

If only she knew who Zima really was to her, but that was something that would remain hidden from her and the Asset. If either of them knew, it could jeopardize their loyalties and distract them. He wasn't sure if that would be the case for the Asset considering he was nothing but a weapon and had gone through years of extensive wipes and programming. He only knew the mission, not of family or love because he wasn't human.

He shakily got back on his feet and glanced one more at the sleeping man that slept peacefully and totally unaware of the world. He would be awakened when he was needed, but for the mean time all that was left for him to do was to sleep.

He pulled out his phone and raised it to his ear before saying, "Pull all files pertaining to the Little Winter project and leave them on my desk."  
With that he walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving the soldier to his cold and dreamless slumber.

Falls Church, Virginia  
2015

"You think he's still connected to Hydra?" asked Sam staring at the office doors as people walked out, looking for the Doctor.

"He might be," said Steve, "that's why we need to be careful. Then again he might not be, in any case he should be viewed as a threat."

"I wonder why he isn't dead," mused Sam, "you know what happened to the others, so what makes him special?"

"He's connected to Hydra in some form or another," said Bucky for the first time since leaving Mrs. Levine's house, "if he wasn't he would've been viewed as a liability and disposed of."

"His dad retired from Hydra," Sam pointed out, "so we know that they don't dispose of everybody that could be a liability."

"Yes, but he still consulted," said Bucky casually looking out the window, "he also knew what would happen to him and his family if he defected."

"Do you think he's in hiding?"

Bucky snorted, "If so, he's doing a shit poor job of it."

"Guys," said Steve nodding towards a balding middle aged man walking out the front door.

He looked older than in the picture, but it was definitely him with glasses. Bucky and Sam nodded as they slipped out of the car, Sam coming up behind Steve and Bucky splitting away in case he decided to try and run.

"Excuse me," said Steve walking up to him. The man turned to look at Steve, his eyes widening in shock and fear before making a mad dash the other way, but Bucky was ready for him.

It was a good thing no one was present to watch as Bucky grabbed him by his metal arm and threw him onto the ground. The man hit his head and crumpled to the ground unconscious, but Bucky didn't see that. All he saw was a Hydra scientist, just like the ones that had experimented on him and made his life a living hell. He could feel himself reverting back to the Winter Soldier as he advanced on the pathetic little man lying on the ground, but he was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a steady but firm hand on his shoulder and Steve telling him to calm down. He took a deep breath as he watched Sam checked over the man for any serious injuries before he and Steve hoisted the man into the back of the car.

"How bout next time we don't do that," said Sam looking at Bucky through the rearview mirror, "we don't want to have a dead body on our hands."

"Too hard?" Bucky said Bucky sarcastically to the man.

"A little, but he deserved it."

Within ten minutes they were back on the highway heading back to D.C. with Bucky in the back keeping his eye on the sleeping man and Sam and Steve in the front discussing what they should do with Levine when Steve's phone rang.

"Where the hell are you?" came Natasha's audible voice from the other end.

"Hello to you too Nat," Steve said pleasantly.

"I'm not kidding Rogers, if you went after the girl without-"

"Calm down Natasha, we're heading back to D.C. right now with an extra passenger."

"Who?" she asked suspiciously.

"One of the Hydra scientists that worked on the project," he said glancing casually back at Bucky.

"How'd you pull that off so quickly?"

"Well we had a little help from a very nice lady in Falls Church. Told us exactly where to look," he said pulling the visor down, "and Tony helped too."

"Is James with you?" she asked.

"Yes," Steve stated slowly but steady.

"And he knows-?"

"Yes Nat, he knows."

There was a pause on the other end before she said, "just get back here soon, I'm sure you can explain everything then."

Bucky heard a soft groan coming from the man as he tried to sit up but didn't get the chance to before Bucky had delivered a nonfatal blow to the face, effectively knocking the man out cold again.

"See you soon," said Steve hanging up and turning back to Bucky with an unapproving glare. Bucky just simply shrugged at him, questioning what he would've done in his place. Steve just sighed and shoved his phone back into his pack pocket.

"She seemed angry," Bucky said stating the obvious, his eyes darkening just a little as they stared at Steve.

"Where they ever going to tell me?"

"No," he stated simply looking back at Bucky searching for a reaction.

Bucky clenched his metal fist and stared out the window at the passing trees. Of course they weren't going to tell him, he was unstable and they couldn't know how he was going to react. They had wanted to play it safe because they didn't want to lose him. But at the same time he felt betrayed and angry. They had no right to keep such information from him, he deserved to know everything that they had taken and done to him.

"Eventually they were planning to, but they felt now was not the time."

"They had no right," Bucky said glaring at him, his eyes feigning betrayal.

"No they didn't, that's why I told you."

"Thank you," he said so softly it almost went unheard. The rest of the car ride was silent as Bucky stared at the window, his thoughts occupying his mind and the picture in his hands weighing him down with an invisible force.

AN: Thank you to all who have Favorited, followed, or commented.


	5. Chapter 5

Hydra Base  
Washington D.C.  
2005

"Where are we going Ms. Coleman?" asked Yelena as she watched her handler stuff her clothes into a little travel case.  
"Mr. Pierce is arranging for you to get new handlers," she said zipping up the bag; quite annoyed at the questions that the child was asking.  
"But why?" asked the confused child.

"I don't know!" she said raising her voice at the child, "stop asking me questions I don't know!" she said grabbing the child roughly by the arm and pulling her up to her feet. She grabbed the carrying case with one hand and Yelena's hand with her other before leading her out of her former quarters.  
The child, who was quite used to Ms. Coleman's temper, stayed silent as she was led out of the building and into a black SUV that was waiting for them on the tarmac.

Ms. Coleman shoved her bag into the back of the car and forced Yelena into the car before strapping her down to the car seat.  
"You see this man?" she said pointing to a rather young man wearing a black suit sitting in the front of the car, "this is Rumlow, he's been assigned to be your temporary handler. You will do as he tells you, yes?"

"Yes Ms. Coleman," whispered the little girl as she stared up at the woman with wide and confused eyes.  
"Good," she said patting her head awkwardly before closing the car door and walking away.  
Yelena only watched as the woman she had known since birth walked away from her; leaving her at the mercy of these strangers.

"Will I ever see her again?" she asked directing the question to the man known as Rumlow.  
"No," he said looking at her in the rear view mirror briefly.

Yelena hugged her stuffed bear closer to her little body and stared out at the passing scenery from the little window. She had never really been let out of the building complex where she used live, so everything she saw was practically new and strange to her. She could see tall white buildings and lots of people walking around idly pointing and looking at maps.

Mr. Rumlow came to a stop in front of a nice looking building that sat on a street corner, but Yelena felt uneasy as she stared up at the domed building. The feeling did not go away and only seemed to intensify when Rumlow opened the car door and undid her seatbelt.

Mr. Rumlow lifted her up out of her car seat and lowered her to the ground. He knelt down and smoothed the wrinkles on her soft yellow shirt and combed her hair back off her face, making her somewhat presentable for the Director. He grabbed her hand, his grip much softer than Ms. Coleman's, and led her to the back of the car where he unloaded her suitcase before closing the trunk and leading her across the street and into the pretty building.

Yelena gaped at the pretty chandelier that hung down from the ceiling and lit up the polished marble floor beneath them. There were nicely dressed people sitting behind counters attending to those who were waiting in line.

She noticed Mr. Rumlow look over to a far desk where a man wearing a blue uniform and a badge sat. The man glanced at Rumlow and nodded at him before returning to the newspaper that he was reading. Mr. Rumlow led her out the main room and into a dimly lit hallway and from there into an elevator. She watched as he pulled out a key and inserted it into a lock and turned it, making all the buttons that were not previously lit up light up.

He reached over and hit the one with the Hydra emblem before leaning against the railing as the car started to move down. Yelena glanced around the small room as she felt the elevator lowering them beneath her feet.

Once the doors where open she was led into a well-lit vault type room that was surprisingly busy with people in suits and lab coats.  
Yelena felt her heart rate quicken at the sight of them and she let out a small whimper as the memories flooded back into her mind.

"Keep walking," said Rumlow as he gently nudged her forward and into Pierce's office.

"Yelena!" said Pierce standing up and straightening his shirt before walking over to her and kneeling down in front of her, "how is my favorite little girl today?" he said producing a red sucker from his pocket and presenting it to her.  
She tenderly reached out and grabbed it, but stared back up at the Director with confusion. She had never received candy and therefor had no idea what she had just been given.

"It's for you," said Pierce as he grabbed the candy back and took the wrapping off of it before giving it back to her, "you suck on the red part."

"Oh," she said before gingerly sticking it into her mouth, reveling in the cherry flavor that exploded in her mouth.  
Pierce smiled at her, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling up.  
"You're probably wondering why I have brought you here?" he asked motioning for her to take a seat on the chair in front of his desk.

"You see Yelena," he said taking a seat and pointing at her, "I see your potential to be a great asset to Hydra one day, and I'm going to unlock that potential. How would you like that? To help us make the world peaceful?"

Of course Yelena being a child meant she didn't understand a word he said, but she had no intention of angering the man so she. nodded her head. Ms. Coleman had said that Hydra was good and that to serve them would be an honor

Yelena, having grown up surrounded by Hydra, had been fed their indoctrination since the day she was born. She knew nothing of the world or what they had done in the past, she only knew what she had been taught. To her, Hydra was good because it was the only thing she had been taught from day one.

"Sir," came a man's voice from the doorway, "the Asset is back."  
"Thank you Collins," he said dismissing the young man before turning back to face Yelena.  
"Mr. Rumlow and I have business to attend to, I'm sure you will not leave this room in the meantime?"  
"Yes Mr. Pierce," she said watching as he and Rumlow exited the room and returned to swinging her tiny little legs and sucking her sucker.

She didn't suck on it much longer before she finally bit into it and ate it, leaving her with a sucker stick that she knew she needed to throw away. She climbed down off the chair and walked around Mr. Pierce's desk in search of a trashcan but didn't find one.  
She searched the rest of his office but not finding one. Surely there had to be one in the other room? She was sure that Pierce wouldn't mind if she left for just a second to find one. She would only be gone a few seconds and then she would be back here like she promised him, she wouldn't wonder off to where she wasn't supposed to be.

She peeked her head out of the room to find it practically empty than just a few minutes before. She walked around the room and searched vigorously for a trashcan but again didn't find one. Why didn't they have one? Did they not clean up their garbage? Ms. Coleman would not approve of these people if that was the case.

She was about to walk back to the office when she turned her head and found a trashcan sitting at the end of the hallway. She quickly ran to it and threw the stick away; happy that she had finally found one.

She was about to walk back when she heard Mr. Pierce's voice coming from the door next to the trashcan. She couldn't hear what he was talking about, but grew curious about the business that she was not invited to see.

She peeked her little head through the door to see Mr. Pierce standing in front of a weird looking chair, Mr. Rumlow was standing next to him while various men in white coats walked around checking strange looking monitors.

No one saw the little girl peeking in on them so Yelena quietly walked into the room and came to stand in the corner in front of a metal door with square holes big enough for her to peak through.

She watched as Mr. Pierce suddenly moved away from the chair exposing the man who was sitting in it. Yelena only backed away further away into the shadows, hoping the man wouldn't see her and tell Mr. Pierce. Thankfully, he hadn't bothered to look her way, his eyes were solely trained on Mr. Pierce.

All that Yelena could make out of the man was that the arm facing her was made completely of metal with a bright red star painted on it. She was both curious and fascinated by this man's arm, she wondered what it would feel like to touch it.

Yelena couldn't quite hear what was being said, but she didn't dare move from her spot in case she was spotted. She didn't want Mr. Pierce think she wasn't trustworthy, she just wanted to know what was going on with the man sitting in the chair. He seemed familiar with his long brown hair, but Yelena couldn't see his face from the angle she was standing and his hair helped cover it from her. He sat rigidly on the chair, his bare chest rising and falling with every deep breath he took and his metal arm twitching ever so slightly.

Rumlow, who was currently standing off to her right, said something to the man causing him to turn his head to face him, giving Yelena a good look at his face.

She bit her lip as she realized that she had seen his face before. It was Zima, the man who had been sleeping in the large metal box that Mr. Pierce had shown her only a few days prior.

She found herself being drawn forward and came out of the shadows so she could see the man better, but still cautious as she did not want to be caught.  
She could see the man say something but it was so soft she could barely hear the sound that came out of his mouth, but whatever he had said seemed to make Mr. Pierce angry because the next moment the older man had walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face. The man's head fell to the side before lifting it up shamefully, not meeting Mr. Pierce's gaze.

Yelena was confused at his action.  
Didn't Pierce say that Zima was his friend? But this wasn't how friends were supposed to treat each other, right?

Then Mr. Pierce turned toward the other men in the room wearing white coats and said something to them before backing away from the seated man.  
Yelena turned to look at the man and gasped when she realized that his cold gaze was fixed directly on her. She was frozen with fear as she stared at him, unable to move under his watch.

The more she stared the more she realized that his eyes looked sadder than they were cold. He continued to stare at her as something was forced into his mouth and he was roughly pushed back into the chair. Metal restraints came out of the chair and fastened around both of his arms, effectively holding him in place. She could see a metal round thing being lowered down and two panels that sparked with electricity enclose on either side of his head.

He gave her one final look before the machine was turned on.  
And then the screaming started.


	6. Chapter 6

Shield base  
Washington D.C.  
2015

Bucky clenched his metal fist as he watched the man who was currently seated at the table staring down at his hands that were placed in his lap. His shoulders shaking nervously and he would occasionally reach up to push his glasses up his nose before returning to idly twiddling his thumbs. 

"Hello," said Natasha as she came to sit on the other end of the table with the case file and Steve's report in her hands. She grabbed the pitcher of water that had been previously untouched and poured two glasses of water, one for herself and one for him.

"Water?" she asked sliding the glass over to him.  
He looked between the glass and her, and cautiously reached out and grabbed the glass from her and taking a small sip before setting it down on the table.

"Shall we get down to business, Mr. Levine?" she said opening the case file and glancing through it.  
"First of all, do you know why you're here today?"

He visibly pondered over the question carefully before giving a hesitant nod.  
"Is this about my work for Hydra?" he asked, not even bothering to try and lie to them. There was no point in lying at this point in time. 

"Yes, most specifically your work on the Little Winter Project," she said sliding the file across to him so he could get a good look.  
He looked down at the picture with an unreadable look before returning his gaze to the redhead, his leg visibly twitching in irritation.

"What would you like to know about it?" he asked agitated.  
"Everything, if you don't mind," said Natasha folding her hands across the table in front of her.  
He sighed as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, "It all started in 1997 when Hydra almost lost the Asset during a mission. After that they decided that they needed a backup in case they ever lost him, they wanted a 'just in case' plan. That's when Pierce approached me and asked me to lead a scientific research program to recreate the serum that was given to the Asset."

"And you said yes?"  
"I was young and foolish then, I didn't know the mess I would be getting myself into when I accepted his offer."

"What happened next?" 

"I used the notes that Zola had left behind, his research into the possibility of cloning the Asset to obtain the serum. But it didn't work. The test subject was a failure and it forced me to look beyond Zola's idea of a clone."  
"And that's how you came up with the plan to breed the soldier?" asked Natasha with a dour expression gracing her face.

"Yes," he nodded, "I thought if I couldn't make his clone, then I would simply make a child from half of his DNA. I thought it was a good idea, Pierce thought it was a good idea, we thought for sure it would work."  
"But it didn't," Natasha said grimly.

"No," he said shifting his eyes downward, "the serum mutated the Assets DNA, but it had no effect on his germ cells, which are-."

"I know what germ cells are," said Natasha interrupting him before he could continue.

"Right," said Levine nervously as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "in Biology, we call a mutation that is not heritable to future offspring somatic. Yelena, the girl, was born without her biological father's serum because the serum is not germline." 

"What happened after you found out she wasn't enhanced?"  
"My team was disbanded and my research locked up. I and a few other co-workers were forced to resign, others were not so lucky."

"You mean like Julian Bernotus and Natalia Andreyev?" she said as she pointed to their names on the file. 

He sighed and leaned forward on the table, "Julian did resign, but when Hydra found out he was conversing with an American scientist about the prospect of recreating the super soldier serum, he was taken care of."

"And what about Natalia?" asked Natasha leaning forward.  
"Natalia was the one volunteered her DNA and her body for the project."  
"So she was the mother?"

"Yes, but she became too emotionally attached to it. I warned her not to, but she didn't listen to me of course. She tried to fight us when we took the child from her arms, as I suppose any mother would. About a month after the child was born she tried to defect, made it all the way to New York before Hydra caught up with her," he said shaking his head, "foolish girl."

Bucky's eyes darkened at the Scientists words, his mind reeling from the discovery that Natalia was the girl's mother. He had been forced to cover up the secrets he didn't even know he had, forced to participate in the covering up of the mistake that was his child. Her mother was dead because of him, he had killed her because she had tried to leave the very organization that had taken her child away.

He didn't even know her and already he felt guilty about what had happened to her.

"It's okay Buck," said Steve gently resting his hand against his shoulder. Steve had been so quiet through the interrogation and Bucky had been so engrossed that he had forgotten that he was even there at all.

"Steve I-," he stumbled over his words, not quite knowing how to convey his thoughts to his friend, "what am I supposed to do? How do I go on living after what they've done to me or what they've taken from me?"

Usually he wasn't one to talk about his emotions, it was something that he just didn't do. He had been trained not to show weakness and to perform his abilities as best he could. But he was no longer that person, and he was showing weakness. He was showing Steve his need for comfort for the first time in almost seventy years, he was actually talking to him about how he felt.

"This is Hydra's doing, not yours Buck. You can't blame yourself for what you didn't know."  
Bucky didn't reply because he didn't know how. He knew Steve was right, but he still felt guilty and that would never go away.

"Where was the child taken after she was born?" asked Natasha as she continued on with the interrogation.  
"If I remember correctly, she was taken to a Hydra base here in D.C.," he said as he rubbed the corner of his eye, "after that I don't know." 

Bucky and Steve both glanced at each other, their brows knotted in confusion as they racked their brain for anything that would point to her ever having been there. 

"The bank?" asked Natasha with incredulity, "we cleared that one out, there was nothing on her there."

"Ms. Romanoff," began Levine as he glanced around the room cautiously, "Hydra likes to take precautions, especially in the capitol of what some may consider to be the greatest nation on Earth. Every major city across the world has at least one or more base."

"One or more base," said Natasha repeating his words, "are you saying there's another base here?"

"It's not exactly would you would call a base," began Levine, "it's more of a storage facility, but in emergencies it could serve as a base."

Bucky didn't know what had come over him but he found himself marching into the room and pound his metal fist into the table in threatening manner as he glared at the man before him. 

"Where is it?" he asked in a dangerously calm voice, his posture rigid and his gaze unwavering.

Levine glanced nervously at the shiny metal, his pulse quickening at the sight of it, "it's under the airport."

"Which one?" asked Bucky as drew his arm back to his side.

"Ronald Reagan National Airport," said Levine quietly.

With that Bucky turned and strode out of the room stopping at the doorway and turning back towards the scientist, "if I find out that you lied to me, I'll kill you."

And with that he strode out the room; he had acquired a new mission and he was ready to complete it.  
"You wouldn't actually let him kill me, right?" he asked Natasha with worrisome look on his face.  
"If the Winter Soldier wanted you dead, you already would be," she said dragging him out of the chair and cuffing him.

AN: Have any of you heard about the underground Bunker supposedly beneath the Denver International Airport? It's been a center of controversy for some time now, especially to Conspiracy theorists. Some believe that there's government testing going on under there and what not. I heard about it and It made me think of the possibility of Hydra doing something similar. I hope you liked my idea as much as I do.


	7. Chapter 7

Washington D.C.  
2015  
Hydra base

"You seeing this Cap?" asked Sam over the com.  
"Yeah, looks like the entrance is in the east hangar," he said looking through the binoculars.

After finding out that there was an underground Hydra base at Ronald Reagan International Airport, Shield had put a lot of work into getting Intel and surveying the area as best they could without alerting Hydra to their presence.

It was key in this situation to make sure they didn't know Shield was onto them. If they knew they had been discovered then all the information and experiments might as well be lost, maybe even the girl, and that was most certainly not an option.

"You sure we can do this?" asked Natasha from over the com, "There's no way of telling whose Hydra and whose not, there could be civilian casualties."

"We know," said Steve meeting Bucky's eyes, "but there's nothing we can do about that. We can't evacuate because then Hydra will know we're onto them and we can't risk that. Besides, it's not like there's a lot of people in there, and I doubt there's going to be civilians inside the actual compound."

"If we do this fast and efficiently we should be able to get the job done without hurting any civilians," said Barton over the com.

Natasha had called him in a few days earlier and explained the situation to him and he had agreed to come and help out, especially when he found it was to rescue his friend's kid. Steve guessed it had to with the fact that he himself was a father, and he knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for his kids.

"So we're actually going through with this?" asked Sam.  
"Looks that way," said Steve.

"The Strike Team's waiting for your orders," said Natasha, "all arriving flights have been rerouted to land at the other airports and all departing flights have been delayed."

"Then it won't be long before they figure out we're here," said Sam, "meaning we're going to have to work fast."

Steve looked to his right at Bucky, who looked dangerously like the Winter Soldier as he surveyed the tarmac before him. Steve breathed in sharply as the memory of the cold and calculated assassin flashed across his mind, but pushed it out of his mind as he looked back down at the tarmac.

He had a mission to fulfill and now was not the time to be thinking about that the day on the bridge.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" he asked over the com before reaching to grab his shield, which was hanging off his back, and jumped as quietly as he could off the small ledge; coming to stand gracefully on his feet before moving out. He could sense Bucky behind him, his gun raised ready to cover him if anything tried to come at him.

The two of them made a formidable pair as they silently made their way across the tarmac in the dark, hiding in the shadows and minimizing their exposure until they reached one of the smaller hangars.

Steve was about to turn around the corner but quickly stepped back and motioned to Bucky to stay quiet before turning to look at the two men that were standing there, one was talking on his cell phone while the other sat picking lint off his work clothes.

Steve was about to pull Bucky back when he spotted a .22 Caliber tucked neatly in one man's cargo pants, the black of the gun peeking out from behind the bright yellow vest.

"You think the airport gives those to all their employees?" whispered Steve as he nodded over to the poorly hidden gun.

"No," replied Bucky shaking his head, "but Hydra does."

They waited for a few seconds before Bucky jumped out and grabbed one of the men around the neck with his metal arm, holding him in a strong choke hold for a few seconds before Steve jumped out from his hiding place, effectively scaring the other man. He dropped his cell phone and reached for the gun, but he had barely grabbed it before Bucky shot him in the chest with a well-aimed shot, killing him almost instantly.

Steve didn't even have the chance to comment before two more men ran out of the warehouse with their guns drawn and raised at them. They hadn't even had the opportunity to fire before Steve threw his shield at the both of them; rendering them both unconscious from the sheer force of the vibranium.

"This way," said Bucky as he ran over the empty tarmac toward the east hangar.

They entered into the hangar and hung back to observe the group of men sitting around lazily and conversing with one another, unaware of the present danger. Hydra hadn't yet figured out that they were being infiltrated.

"Natasha," said Steve fast under his breath, "where are you?"  
"We're on our way towards the hangar right now. Where are you?" she said out of breath.  
"We're in the hangar waiting for you."

"Be there in 2," she said before ending their conversation, the sound of a quick yelp and bang was what Steve heard before the line went dead.  
"They okay?" whispered Bucky.  
Steve nodded, "they're on their way."  
"We could take them now," whispered Bucky as he stared at the group, his metal arm whirring in preparation.

Steve didn't doubt that they could, but he didn't want to continue without the rest of them at this point. There was no room for missteps or accidents in this mission, he could afford to make no mistakes when it involved an innocent child.

"We need you here Natasha," said Steve into his earpiece impatiently. He was about to say something else when he was interrupted by the whizzing of one of Barton's arrows as it hit one of the men in the back. Confusion barely had time to spread amongst the men before a streak of red and black jumped out and attacked in a flurry of calculated and well executed offensive movements. Barton came out of his hiding place and continued to hit the men methodically, taking short breathers to notch arrows.

Steve and Bucky had barely registered what was happening before they too joined into the flurry of the fight. Steve used his shield on the offense, knocking men out right and left while Bucky did the same with his metal arm.

It was relatively easy considering the fact that they had the element of surprise as well as the fact that these men were not fully trained operatives. These people had been given the menial task of maintaining equipment and supplies, and judging from their poor fighting skills it was more than plausible that most had never seen combat before. It didn't take long at all to subdue the group of men, their unconscious forms strewn across the concrete floor.

"Hey," said Sam behind him, "did we miss the party?" he said walking in with a few other agents with him.  
"Where the hell were you guys?" asked Barton out of breath.  
"We figured that since Hydra probably knows were already here that we might as well go ahead and evacuate," said Sam.  
"Are they all out?" asked Steve.

Sam nodded before surveying the bodies that littered the floor, "so, you guys having fun?"  
"Loads," said Bucky sarcastically as he glared over at the other man.  
"Well, I'm sorry I'm late then," said Sam smirking.

"So where do you think the entrance to this base is?" said one of the agents as he stared around the room.

"Good question," said Steve as he too stared quizzically around the hangar, his eyes searching for anything that could serve as an entrance.

"Wait a minute," said Sam as he backed up and looked down at the floor, his eyes tracing something invisible.

"What is it?" asked Bucky as he looked down at the floor, trying to find whatever Sam had found.

"It's a big elevator," said Sam as he used his finger to point out the lines in the floor.

"Like on aircraft carriers," said Natasha as her eyes found the lines tracing along the floor as well.

"So then there should be a lever somewhere around here," said Bucky as his eyes traveled to the far wall.

"Like that?" said one of the other agents as he pointed to a lever on the far wall.

"I think that's it," said Bucky as he walked over and carefully pulled the lever down. As soon as he did, the sectioned out floor beneath them started to slowly lower down into the lower levels of the base.

It was obvious that the underground section of the hangar had been built with the intention of storing large airplane parts, but Hydra had found a more creative use of the underground storage facility. Not to mention the fact that Hydra had managed to keep this facility a complete secret from Shield for quite some time after the file leak, and that it was right under such a commercial place such as an airport.

"Bucky and I will secure the file room, the rest of you know what to do, Sam you're with us," said Steve raising his shield and stepping off the platform.

"Are you sure that's a wise idea, Cap?" asked Barton.  
"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," said Steve over his shoulder.

"Do we even know where the file room is?" asked Sam as he jogged to catch up with the two of them.  
"Oh I'm sure it's around here somewhere."  
"Be careful!" called Natasha over her shoulder as the rest of their group set off in the other direction.  
"Will do!" Steve said as they walked around the corner.

The next ten minutes were spent slowly making their way to the file room, or to the general direction of where the file room should be. Once they were there they would recover the files and leave the rest to Shield and continue their search for the girl. Although there wasn't definite guarantee that she had ever been here, it was the best they had to go on. And what could Dr. Levine possibly gain from lying to them? It made all of them positive that they would find information on her here.

"Steve!" came Bucky from around the corner that they were currently covering, "I think I found it!"  
"There's only one way to know," said Steve coming to stand in front of the door to what they hoped was the room.  
With one swift kick the door fell back off its hinges and they entered in with their guns raised to find that it was indeed the file room and it was empty.  
"Guard the door," Steve said the Sam, "Bucky and I will look for the files."

Steve plopped himself on the ground next to Bucky and began to pull the files out of the cabinet one by one, looking for key words that were alphabetized. He sat like that for five minutes, looking through the L's before he finally found it tucked at the back, almost forgotten from the rest of them.

"I found it," he sighed out, his eyes traveling the cover with relief that they had finally found something.  
"What does it say?" asked Bucky anxiously as he came to sit down next to him.

Steve flipped the cover open and started reading through the file looking for anything that could tell them where she was.  
"She was moved," breathed Steve leaning back against the file cabinet, "to a base in New Mexico."  
"What part?" asked Bucky grabbing the file from Steve, reading over the words himself.

"They moved her to Los Alamos to begin her training," Bucky stated, his voice straining over the words. Steve knew that this whole situation was taking its toll on his friend, and he guessed that news like this would only make it worse. But at least they knew where she was and now they could plan her rescue.

It was one thing getting Bucky to break his programming because at least he had memories to retrieve, memories of a better life while this girl had nothing. She had been with them since the beginning, she had known no other life than what they had provided her.

Steve had to wonder what kind of person that they were saving and whether or not she would be able to overcome it like Bucky had, or was this something that she would never recover from? Steve didn't even want to think about the possibility of that, it was too heartbreaking to think about.

"This is good Buck," he said clasping his shoulder, "this means we can get her," said Steve with as much assurance in his voice as possible.

Bucky only nodded tensely before standing up off the floor, his eyes failing to meet Steve's.

"Good news Cap, we finished clearing the base," said Natasha over the com, "you find the files?"  
"We're in the file room, and yes we found the files," he said observing Bucky's tense face.  
"What does it say?"  
"It says we're going to New Mexico," he said pushing himself up off the cabinet, "you in?"  
There was a long pause over the com before she said, "Barton and I are in, when we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow," he said before cutting off the conversation and glancing at Bucky who was currently staring down at the file in his hand, his expression still unreadable.  
"We should probably get back and prepare," said Bucky handing the file over to Steve, "I'm sure Shield can take care of this," he said glancing at the file cabinets.

"You okay?" Steve could tell something wasn't quite right with him, he looked absent from everything that was taking place.  
"I'm fine, Rogers," he snapped, "God sometimes you can be such a sap," he said walking out of the room in short angry steps leaving Steve to wonder what he did wrong.  
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," said Sam from the door, "he's still trying to recover from what's been done to him and then this-"he said shaking his head, "it can't possibly be easy."

"No, he's hurting," said Steve shaking his head, "I can tell."  
"He'll pull through eventually, just give it time."

Steve heaved a sigh before clipping his shield onto his back, "you should get some sleep, we leave at dawn tomorrow," he said before walking out of the room, heading off to find Bucky.

AN: I've literally been editing this over and over again because for some reason I'm not really happy with how this chapter turned out. I guess it's cause I'm not the best at writing combat scenes, but oh well. Next chapter is almost done, so more to come soon. Thank you to everyone who has Favourited, alerted, and read this story. Special thanks to those who have also commented, it mean the world to me. :)


	8. Chapter 8

New Mexico  
Hydra Base  
2005

Yelena sat in the corner of the small quarters she had been assigned holding her head in her hands and sobbing quietly. Her head hurt from when one of her new handlers had struck her and a nasty bruise had started to form where his hand had met her head. All that she had done was try to get her stuffed bear back after it had been taken from her by her new handlers.

She had cried and begged for it back to her new handlers, even going as far as clinging onto one of them until they stopped and listened to her complaints. But all that had come out of that was a sharp and painful blow that had knocked her clean on her butt and in shock at what had just happened.

She had been struck by her previous handlers before, Ms. Coleman would occasionally slap her and Thomas would sometimes hit her, but never this hard. She had sat on the floor in shock before bursting into a bout of tears at the pain that was swelling in her head and face.

She didn't understand why they took her bear from her when her old handlers had let her keep him. Teddy had always been there for her when no one else was and she didn't know what she would do without her friend at her side. When they ripped him out of her arms they had ripped her only friend from her and she did her best to get him back, even though she had failed.

After the initial shock had worn off and the tears had begun their cascade, she had been forced to her feet and thrown into her assigned quarters with instructions to get over it. She had banged on the door as hard as her little fists could hit, but nobody paid her a lick of attention.

Before long she had given up her tantrum and made her way over to her new bed, her fists red and throbbing from mercilessly hitting the metal door. She wiped her eyes dry and drew her knees close to her chest and gently rocked herself to-and-fro.

She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be trained anymore. She just wanted Teddy and her old life back, not whatever this was.  
She lifted her head up when she heard the door to her room being open and the man who had struck her entered, his shoes echoing on the metal floor and his shadow covering the wall behind her.

"Get up," he ordered as he marched into the room and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet and dragging her out of the room.  
"Please," she hiccupped as he forced her down the hallway, "please don't hurt me."

"Shut up!" he said yanking her forward so hard that pain radiated up her arm. This only caused her to cry more at the harshness of his voice and the pain in her arm.

"Baron Fleischer," he said as he entered into a room and came to stand in front of a large and fancy desk, "I have the girl."  
The man turned away from the bookcase on the far wall to reveal a rather pleasant face with blond hair and pale blue eyes, but when he smiled it made shivers run up Yelena's back.

"Ah you are Yelena, no?" he said kneeling down to her level and grabbing a lock of her brown hair, stroking it between his fingers, "we have been expecting you Fraulein," he said in a light German accent.

Yelena involuntarily tried to take a step back, but found herself bumping into the handler's legs. The iron grip around her arm tightened and she couldn't help but wince in pain.

"What is this?" he said grabbing her chin and turning it so he could inspect the bruised side of her face before looking up at her handler in question.  
"She was misbehaving."  
"Tsk tsk," he said letting her chin go, "Now we can't have any of that can we?" he said lightly scolding her as if a parent would.

"You will find that there is no room for misbehaving little girls here, so I implore that you behave from now on, yes?" he said, "besides, we wouldn't want to mar this pretty face."

Yelena sniffled as she nodded her head, "yes sir."

"Excellent," beamed Fleischer, "you'll soon see that good behavior here is not without reward," he said standing up and walking over to a mini refrigerator and pulling out an ice pack.

"T-thank you," said Yelena as she took the ice pack from him before holding it up to her swelling face.  
"Regisseur Pierce hat sie uns zur Ausbildung geschickt," he said to the handler.

"Glaubst du, sie wird glucklich sein, damit umzugehen?" asked the handler with skepticism.

"Wenn sie so etwas wie ihr Vater ist, dann ja," said Fleischer smiling down at the confused girl.

The handler shook his head, "I hope you're right, Baron."

"Your concern is touching," said Fleischer as he patted Yelena's shoulder, "but I'm sure Director Pierce would not have placed her under my care unless she had potential, no?"

"So what?" asked the handler as he crossed his arms, "are we to become like the Red Room then? Taking little girls in and turning them into assassins? I didn't join Hydra to train little prepubescent brats," said the handler, his voice laced with venom.

"Why not?" asked Fleischer with raised eyebrows, "did the Red Room not produce some of the most deadly assassins in the world?"

The handler didn't say anything as he stared down at the girl with crossed arms, his gaze full of skepticism.

"I know this is not what you joined for," said the Baron with a sigh, "but just imagine what would happen if we were successful? The Red Room may no longer exist, but we can continue their work."

"Continue whose work?" asked Yelena interrupting the Baron. She was tired of the grown-ups talking about her like she wasn't even there, and she curious as to what they were talking about.

"Nothing Lena," said Fleischer as he redirected his attention down to the girl. He had gotten so caught up in the debate with Graham that he had forgotten that she was even there. She was so quiet and submissive, she hadn't even stuck up for herself when Graham had called her a brat.

"I'm sorry Schatz, we shouldn't be talking about this right now," said Fleischer sending the other man a glare, "you need not worry yourself about such talk."

"I think it's time you took Yelena back to her quarters," said Fleischer, "she's going to need all the sleep she can get for tomorrow," he said as he directed the both of them towards the door, "you and I can continue our little conversation at a later time."  
"What's the Red Room?" Yelena asked as soon as the door closed behind them. Baron Fleischer had talked about the Red Room with such reverence and fascination and made Yelena wonder. What was so special about a room that had been painted red?

"None of your concern," he said taking her arm and directing her back towards her room.  
"Go to bed, you'll need all the sleep you can get," he said shoving her into the room and locking the door behind him.

Yelena sat down on the bed and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings before leaning back and curling on her side.

This would be the first night in her life that she didn't have Teddy with her, and she could never go to sleep without him being held close to her chest.  
She sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes before turning onto her other side.

She wouldn't be seeing Teddy for a long time.

 **AN: It's a short chapter, but some pretty important elements to the story have been revealed. Baron Fleischer is an interesting guy and you'll be learning more about him and his past as the story continues. But here's what you need to know about him.**

 **A) He's from Eastern Germany, which had been controlled by the Soviet Union. Meaning he had grown up under a Communist Regime.**

 **B) He's obsessed with the Red Room (you'll learn later on why). Ever since the Red Room was disbanded and the Soviet Union fell he's had the idea to continue something similar with himself in charge of the program. That's why Pierce sent Yelena to him, cause he wanted to see if Fleischer could do it.**

 **B) He's not right in the head...**

 **TRANSLATIONS (I don't speak German so don't surprised if these aren't exactly right)**

 **Regisseur Pierce hat sie uns zur Ausbildung geschickt- "Director Pierce has sent her to us for training."**

 **Glaubst du, sie wird glucklich sein, damit umzugehen- "Do you think she'll be able to handle it?"**

 **Wenn sie so etwas wie ihr Vater ist, dann ja- "If she's anything like her father, then yes."**

 **Schatz- Sweetheart**


	9. Chapter 9

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2005

"Where did she go?" came the angry voice of Graham from the hallway, "Yelena!" he yelled as he stomped through the corridor. His boots clanking heavily against the floor and echoing down the hall.

Yelena held her breath as she tried to hold back the sob that was threatening to come out, her eyes shiny with tears as she grasped the leg of the table she was hiding under. She didn't dare make a sound lest he found her, and that was something she definitely did not want.

She knew that if he found her there would be consequences for the stunt she had pulled earlier, and she knew those consequences would not be nice.

The bruises that covered her pale and tiny body could attest to that.

She listened closely for the sound of footsteps that had seemed to disappear. She wasn't sure if Graham had walked away or if he was standing outside of the door waiting for her to come wondering out.

After a few moments, she decided that he was probably long gone looking for her in another part of the base and decided that she should probably find a new hiding place.

Yelena timidly got onto her knees and peeked her head out from under the table and was about to stand up when she felt someone run up from behind her.

"There you are!" said Graham as he grabbed her by her already bruised arm and yanked her to her feet.

Yelena involuntarily let out a yelp at the sudden pain and tried to break free from his strong arms, but she proved to be no match for the gigantic man. She should've probably learned her lesson of trying to break free from someone three times her size last time, but she tried never the less.

"Let me go!" she screamed as she clawed at his hairy arms. He didn't seem to be phased by the scratches as he dragged the screaming girl out of the room and into the hallway where he threw her onto the hard metal floor like a rag doll.

Yelena gasped as she put her hands in front of her to try and catch herself, but ended falling hard anyways onto the floor. She hissed as she raised herself from the floor and looked down to inspect her bloody palms.

"What is going on here?" came the distinctive voice of Baron Fleischer as he made his way down the hallway. He stopped to look down at the bloodied and bruised girl on the floor, his confused expression traveling to Graham for an explanation.

"She was misbehaving," said Graham as he square his shoulders.

"Is that so?" asked the Baron as he stared down at the bloody girl.

"But he was hurting me-!" began Yelena before she was cut off by the blond man.

"Don't give me excuses," he said as his gaze darkened, "now answer me truthfully, were you or were not misbehaving?"

"Yes," said Yelena as she bowed her head in shame.

"And what did I say would happen to little girls who misbehave?" he asked as he calmly placed his hands on his hips in a disapproving manner. He almost looked like a parent who was simple scolding his misbehaving daughter when he did that, and that's what made the situation more nauseating.

"Discipline," choked out Yelena as she dared to look him in the eye before quickly lowering her gaze again. His eyes glared down at her with accusation and disappointment and it made Yelena want to curl up into a ball to make herself as small as possible.

"Tell me Graham," said the Baron as he looked away from Yelena, "what did she do?"

"She disobeyed my direct order and hit me," he said the visible anger, "she then tried to hide from me."

"Tsk tsk," he said shaking his head, "there will definitely have to be some form of punishment for that."

"I'm sorry," sobbed Yelena as fat tears dripped down her cheeks, "I won't do it again! I know what I did was wrong and I won't let it happen again."

"I'm sure you won't," said Fleischer as he pulled her to her feet, "but bad behavior will not be tolerated here, and that means I'm going to have the punish you," he said as he grabbed her hand and walked her down the hall.

"This hurts me more than it does you," he said as he led the sobbing girl into a previously unopened room and turned the lights on to reveal what looked like a storage room.

He led her over to a large metal box against the back wall and opened the lid. Yelena stared down into the empty and dark container, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

"This is for your own good, Lena," he said as he looked down at her with a hard and solemn gaze. Yelena gulped as she started to back away from the older man, but only made it a step before he reached out with his strong arms and held her tightly to the spot.

"No!" she sobbed as Fleischer grabbed her by under her arms pits and lifted her into the container, his face the epitome of calm as he pushed her into the box and closed the lid.

Yelena screamed as she clawed at the walls and tried to push on the lid only to find it shut tight. The walls around her seemed to be closing in on her as she pounded on the lid, hoping that help would come and let her out of the dark and cramped place.

"I promise I'll be good!" she yelled, "please let me out!"

"Please," she yelled halfheartedly as she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them.

She could feel her heart beating fast and heavy within her chest and sweat started to form from the panic and stress coursing through her tiny body. She had had panic attacks before, but not like this. This was worse than anything Yelena had ever felt, worse than physical pain.

Her breathing came out short and ragged as she tried to regulate her heart rate, but found it nearly impossible. She could feel her body shaking in fear and agitation as she tried to find any sort of light to focus on, but found only darkness.

She wished that she had Teddy here with her so she could hug him and talk to him, like she had done in the past when she was sad or afraid. But they had taken him away from her and now she had no one to tell her fears and wishes too.

She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to force herself to calm down, her hands wrapping tighter against her knees. After a few seconds she eventually found that her breathing had begun to slow down and her heart rate as well was steadily dropping.

She was about to wipe her runny nose when she heard the lid open up and Fleischer's face appeared above her, his blue eyes taking the sight of the sniveling girl.

Yelena stared up at the man with fear etched on her face, but found herself happy to see that he had come back for instead of leaving her in there.

He lifted her up and set her back on the ground and kneeled down in front of her to stare into her glassy eyes. Yelena stared back at him as a single tear fell down her face and her lower lip started to slightly tremble.

"Now," he said wiping the stray tear away, "have you learned your lesson yet?"

Yelena nodded as more tears poured down her face, making her porcelain skin red and blotchy again.

"Please don't make me go back in," begged Yelena as she wiped the tears away, "I'm sorry for what I did, just don't make me go back in."

"That's entirely up to you Lena," he said standing up, "only bad behavior warrants punishment."

"I'll be good!" said Yelena staring up into his blue eyes, "from now on I'll be good, I promise."

Yelena had already experienced her fair share of punishments for her bad behavior and she knew that the only thing she could do to survive would be to obey and submit to their wants and desires. She was tired of trying to fight back, not when it caused her so much pain.

If she had just obeyed Graham instead of defying him, she would've never gotten punished or have disappointed Fleischer. All Yelena wanted was his and Hydra's approval, but she didn't know if she was worthy of their attention or approval. Her old handlers had told her how she was a disappointment to Hydra from the moment she was born, something she had never quite understood but had caused her sadness none the less.

They told her how she was weak and pathetic and that if it weren't for Hydra she wouldn't even exist, a statement that shook Yelena to the core. If they created her, then they could do to her as they like and that meant Yelena had better show them she could be strong.

It was the only way she would survive.

AN: This chapter contained a lot of child abuse, both mentally and physically and I hope this did not bother you guys to too much. Now that Yelena is with Fleischer, I am going to warn you that it's about to get worse in later chapters. Her story will contain a lot of mental, physical, and emotional abuse as well as brainwashing, combat training, and Stockholm syndrome. Just think about what those girls in the Red Room went though because that is very similar to what Yelena will go through.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it.

Comment and tell me what you thought about it.


	10. Chapter 10

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2006

"You are not trying hard enough," came the calm voice of the female trainer as she glared down at sniveling girl on the floor, her eyes traveling over the pathetic excuse of a trainee.

Yelena whimpered as she looked up at the Instructor, her gaze refusing to meet the older woman's harsh and impassive stare. The woman had been pushing Yelena like this every day for the past week and Yelena didn't know how much more she could handle.

"I can't," whispered Yelena as she turned to stare into the handlers icy blue eyes.

"What was that?" asked the woman with raised eyebrows, her tone turning dangerously low.

"I said I can't!" yelled Yelena with as much force as a six year old could muster.

"And why not?" she asked, "Because you're weak? Because you're pathetic?"

Yelena did not reply as large tears started to cascade down her cheeks, her lower lip quivering as she tried to keep herself from crying out. She raised her hand and furiously tried to wipe the evidence of her crying, but failed to do so before the woman saw.

"I don't know why Pierce sent you to us," she spit out, "look at you," she said gesturing to the girl, "you can't even keep yourself from crying.

"I'm sorry," said the little girl as she hung her head in shame, "I'll try harder next time, I promise."

"Don't make promises you know you can't keep," said the woman as she took a step towards the girl, her tall and graceful statue dwarfing the small girl.

"Now," she said sharply, "try again."

"But-," began Yelena but was harshly interrupted.

"Again," she said forcefully, "and if you fail then get up and try again. That is the only way that you will learn."

Yelena nodded her head solemnly as she planted her aching feet to the ground and took up the offensive position that the handler had shown her to do. "Don't slouch," she said as she grabbed the girl's shoulders and pulled them back, "stand straight." Yelena huffed out in annoyance as she straightened up her back and locked her shoulders into the uncomfortable position.

"Good," said the handler as she inspected the improved position, "now, I want you to try to get break through my defenses," she said as she moved into a defensive position, "we've gone over this before so this should not be new."

"Okay," said Yelena as she drew her hands up to protect her face like she had been taught. Yelena breathed in heavily as she swung her fists at the handler's sturdy defenses, her tiny hands hardly having any effect on the older woman.

"Harder," said the handler as she deflected yet another hit that had managed to come close in proximity to her face.

"Harder!" sneered the handler as she went into to hit Yelena. Yelena saw the hand that was coming out to hit her and without even thinking, she used her foot to pivot around and delivered a hard blow to the woman's jaw, causing her to stumble back in surprise.

Yelena stared up at the handler with wide eyes as she took an instinctive step back. She had seen Irina perform the complicated move before, but she had never been taught it before. She had no idea how she had even managed it without practice, but whatever it was it had felt natural and good. The feeling of hitting the older woman square in the jaw had been new and exuberating for Yelena. But it also made her remember the last time she had hit one of her handlers and the punishment that had followed.

"Where did you learn that from?" asked the handler as she stalked over to the young girl, "I never taught you that move."

"I-," said Yelena as she stared up at the handler in fear, "I don't know."

"She's been watching you," came Fleischer's voice as he cut into the conversation, his hands neatly tucked behind his back as he stalked towards them, "she's a very observant little girl, wouldn't you say?" he said placing his hands over her shoulders, obviously pleased with her actions.

"Indeed," said the handler as she stared down at the girl with newfound curiosity, "It seems I have underestimated her."

"This will serve as a lesson to you then," he said with a wide grin plastered to his face, "to never underestimate Yelena ever again."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a hint of sarcasm laced in her voice. Yelena could tell that she did not appreciate the Baron's remark seeing how rigid her posture had become.

"Come Lena" he said as he waved the handler off and wrapped an arm around Yelena's shoulder as he guided her into his office.

"Have you eaten anything today?" he asked directing her over to one of the chairs in front of his desk.  
"Yes sir," replied Yelena as she climbed up onto the chair, "I had breakfast about an hour ago."  
"Is that so?" he asked with fake curiosity, "what did you have?"

"A biscuit," said Yelena as she remembered the small and stale food she had been forced to eat that morning. The food that they had provided her so far had been bland and in considerably smaller portions than what she was used to, and often times she found herself hungry again soon after. But Yelena didn't dare complain because if she did then she would not receive any food at all, and that was something she didn't want to have to go through.

"That's not much," remarked Fleischer, "why do they give you so little?"

"Because," said Yelena as she gulped, "because I do not deserve anything more than what is given to me," said Yelena as she repeated Graham's words.

"Hmm," said Fleischer, "they are correct about that, Yelena."

Yelena swallowed her own spit and casted her eyes downward to stare into her lap. She had a distinct feeling where he was taking this conversation.

"But," he said leaning in closer to her, "is hard work ever without reward?"  
Yelena remained silent, continuing to stare at her lap. She wasn't sure if this was a trick question or not, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Well?" he asked impatiently, "Are you going to answer me?"  
"Y-yes sir," she said trying not to stutter over her words.  
"So which is it?" he asked yet again as he glared with apprehension down at her.  
"I-I don't know," she stuttered out with shame and fear, hanging her head so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Not the answer I was hoping for," he said standing up and walking over to a cabinet on the far wall and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured a little into a fancy glass, "do you think you deserve a reward for the impressive skills you displayed earlier?" he asked as he sat down and took a sip.

"No sir," she said confidently as she finally regained her footing, "excellence is expected, not rewarded."

"That is true," he said setting his glass down, "but not always applicable," he said reaching into his desk and pulling out a candy bar and handing it over to her.

"Thank you," said Yelena as she timidly accepted the bar, her stomach growling hungrily as she stared down at the wrapped treat.

"Well go on!" he said motioning towards the candy bar, "I didn't give it to you to look at."

"Of course," said Yelena as she unwrapped it and took a bite.

"Now Lena there's something I want to tell you," he said as he watched her eat, "there are going to be some more girls joining you in your training here soon."

"New girls?" asked Yelena with curiosity as she finished off the last bite. She had never been around children her own age and she was curious as to what it would be like to interact with them.

"Yes, Director Pierce has authorized a few more girls to join the program," he said with a grin, "you'll have classmates here within a few days, isn't that great?"

Yelena nodded, "yes sir."

"I thought so," he said as he leaned over his desk, "now you understand, Lena, with the influx of new students that there will be greater expectations placed on you. You will need to serve as an example to these girls and show them what an ideal student should be. You think you'll be able to handle that?"

Yelena nodded, "who are they?" she asked curiously. She wondered if these girls were like her, failed Hydra experiments sent to Fleischer because Hydra didn't know what else to do with them.

"Oh just some orphan girls," he said waving his hands, "not anyone that will be missed."

"I see," said Yelena with a nod, "and I am to be an example to them?"

"Only because I expect more of you," he said standing up and walking over to his file cabinet and pulling out a white folder, "Director Pierce told me not to tell you this, but I'm going to show it to you anyways," he said taking his seat again and placing the folder in front of her, "I trust this will remain our secret, no?"

Yelena stared at the white folder unable to make out the foreign language written across the front. What was he going to show her?

"Have you ever heard of the Winter Soldier?" he asked as sat back down in his chair.

"The Winter Soldier?" she asked gazing up at him in wonder. Of course she had heard about the Winter Soldier, he was after all the fist of Hydra. Whenever she had heard people talk about him they had always talked about him in an awestruck manner.

He was literally a legend within Hydra and only a handful of people had ever had the opportunity to see him in person. He was a deadly assassin, and from what she knew no one had ever escaped from his deadly clutches.

"What about him?" she asked curiously as she looked back down at the folder.

"Well," he said ringing his hands, "there's no easy way of saying this, but the Asset is your biological father."

Yelena gaped with wide eyes up at the older man at the news of the identity of her biological father. Yelena had always been told that she was a failed Hydra experiment, but she had never been told anything about her parents.

"But they told me I didn't have any parents," she asked with confusion, "I thought I was a failed Hydra experiment?"  
"Don't always believe what you're told Lena, of course you have parents," he said as he opened the first page, "of course you were a failed experiment, there's no doubt about that," he said as he slid the file across the table towards her.

Yelena reached across the table for the file and opened the first page to be met with the face that often times visited her nightmares. It was a picture of Zima in the familiar blue setting of the metal box, just like when she had first seen him. She hadn't realized until now that Zima and the Winter Soldier were the same person, and this person was her father.

The same man who she had seen sleeping in a metal box and then strapped to a chair was the lethal deadly assassin who she had come to admire just like the people around her.

She was shocked by the fact that she knew who the Winter Soldier was and her connection to him that she almost missed the little black and white photo clipped to the bottom of the file. It was Zima, but yet he didn't look like she had remembered him. His hair was shorter, but blocked from view by a cap and he looked different then she remembered, she wasn't sure how to describe it, but his eyes weren't the same sad and lonely eyes that had stared at her from that chair.

"Does he know about me?" she asked trying not to show hope that he would know about her. For just a moment, she had a vision of him coming to find her, but she knew no such thing would ever happen.

"No Lena, he doesn't know about you and it's going to stay that way."  
"Oh," she said quietly as she set the picture of him down on the table; trying to hide her disappointment. It would have been nice if she had someone out there who loved and wanted her, but nobody did, not even her parents.

"Nobody can ever know that you're his daughter and you can't tell anybody, this is a huge secret that you must keep forever Lena. He's a weapon, not a person and you would do well to remember that."  
"I can't tell anybody?"  
"Not even Director Pierce, I would get into a lot of trouble if he knew you knew and that would be very bad for me."

She nodded her head as she glanced back down at both of the pictures of him and tried to find some sort of resemblance between the two of them; something to assure her of her paternity.

"The reason why I'm showing you this is so that you know what your place here in Hydra is. You are a legacy, you're his legacy and I'm counting on you to be the very best you can. These girls will be counting on you."

Knowing that the Winter Soldier was her father gave Yelena a new found sense of loyalty to Hydra. She had to show Hydra that she was her father's daughter and that she could be a legacy.

"Would you look at that!" said Baron Fleischer motioning towards the clock on the wall, "it is almost time for dinner, but if you leave now you might be able to fit in an extra 15 minutes of training."

Yelena climbed down from the chair and said goodbye before making her way back to her instructor. Later that night she came back to her quarters to find the black and white picture sitting on her nightstand where it stayed as a reminder of what she had to live up to.

She had made a promise, and she intended to keep it.


	11. Chapter 11

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2006

"Again," said the instructor calmly as she observed the exhausted six year old girl finish the routine without a single mistake, a feat that had taken Yelena months of practicing to accomplish.

Yelena said nothing as she planted her aching feet back into the starting position and started the routine again and again did it without any mistakes. She had learned the hard way that there was no room for mistakes within Hydra, even when it came to her ballet lessons.

She had been taking lessons for almost a year now and her dancing skills had improved much since having started. She could now exercise almost every routine perfectly without a single mistake, something Baron Fleischer praised her for immensely. Very soon she would be able to start actual combat training now that she had learned good posture and footing, something that was important to learning how to fight.

"Again," said the instructor once Yelena had finished the routine again, her feet screaming in pain and agony. The pink slippers dug tightly into her skin and she could feel huge blisters forming, some of them having already popped as blood and ooze poured out of them. But Yelena said nothing nor did she show the pain on her face as she yet again planted her feet into the starting position and began the routine again.

She twirled around the floor as she had done many times before, but this time her feet got tangled up and she fell onto the hard floor with a soft grunt.

Before she even had time to try and get up, her instructor had already marched over to her and yanked her up by her shoulder and delivered a hard slap across the girls face.

Yelena bit back her tears as she lowered her head in shame so as to not show the instructor her glossy eyes. She had learned a long time ago that her ballet instructor did not take kindly to mistakes and was far less forgiving than any of her other handlers. She was the epitome of harshness and cruelty, but she had been handpicked by Fleischer to teach her so she dared not complain to anybody about her sadistic methods.

"Pathetic," she sneered down at a silent Yelena, "can't do anything right, can you?"

Yelena said nothing as she bit her tongue and refused to meet the older woman's cold stare, her head still lowered in shame and remorse.

"Hmmm?" jeered the woman as she placed her hands on her hips and stared down expectantly at the child. Once upon a time, she would've stood up for herself, but she knew that bad behavior always warranted punishment. She already had nightmares every night about the horrible things that Fleischer would do to punish her, and she wasn't keen to add anymore to the list.

"Are you going to answer me or what?" she asked impatiently.

"No ma'am," said Yelena quietly.

"No ma'am what?" she said as her tone dipped dangerously low.

"No ma'am, I can't do anything right," said Yelena as she hesitantly looked up into the instructors harsh expression, "I'm weak and pathetic and I'll never be anything more than that."

"That's what I thought," she said coldly as she took a step back and motioned for Yelena to start again, her hands poised behind her back and her posture rigid as she watched the girl do the routine yet again.

"I think that's quite enough for one day," came Fleischer's voice as he meandered over to the training mat, his hands held behind his back as he inspected the dancing girl before him.

"Yelena," he said stiffly, "go get changed."

"Yes Sir," said Yelena as she grabbed her bag and stalked into the changing room before yanking the shoes off her feet, a sigh of relief flooding her as soon as they were off.

She grabbed a wash cloth and dampened it before applying the cool moist towel to her blistered and bloodied feet. She wiped the blood and ooze away before slapping Band-Aids over the painful protuberances before changing into her normal attire.

She walked out to see Baron Fleischer still waiting patiently for her, his posture rigid and his head held high as he stared down at her blankly.

"Come with me," he said as he stalked out of the room.

"May I ask where we are going?" asked Yelena as she quickly tied her hair into a loose bun at the top of her head.

"The girls I told you would be joining the program," he said looking back at her briefly, "I want you to meet them."

"How many of them are there?" asked Yelena curiously.

"Three."

"I thought Director Pierce approved more than that," commented Yelena as she begun to realize why the Baron seemed to be in a bad mood. He had been under the impression that there would be more than three girls joining the program, but it seemed as though Director Pierce had other plans.

"So did I," he remarked with contemptuousness as he led her into one of the previously empty bunkers that had been turned into a dormitory for the girls. The place had been cleared and beds had been placed along the far wall, where three girls sat with despondent expressions gracing their young and innocent faces.

Yelena could tell that two of the girls were about five while the youngest was no older than four by the looks of it, making all of them younger than her. In only a few short weeks, Yelena would be seven years old, meaning that it had almost been two years since she first arrived.

It was obvious by their teary gazes and sad expressions that they had never been subjected to Hydra training before or any sort of training before. They all looked young and naïve, just like Yelena had when she had first come here.

"Girls," said Fleischer as he guided Yelena further into the room, "how are we settling in?"

All three girls looked up to meet the Baron's eyes before turning their curious gazes to Yelena, who stared at them with a blank and unreadable expressions. Yelena could tell that the girls had been crying from the glassy looks in their eyes as well as their red and blotchy skin.

"I want to go home," said the youngest one as a new string of tears poured down her rosy and plump cheeks, turning them even redder than before.

Yelena glanced over to the Baron, her eyebrows raised in question as she placed her hands behind her back. Just where did the Baron get these girls from?

"Well that's not going to happen," said Fleischer rather harshly as he glared at the girls, "none of you will ever be going home ever again so you had better all get used to it."

All the girls looked to each other before turning their gaze on their laps; silent tears pouring down all of their faces.

"This is your home now," said Fleischer looking back towards Yelena and nodding for her to step forward, "you will train here until you are the best that Hydra has to offer."

"What's Hydra?" asked the blond girl as she wiped the tears away from her eyes.

Fleischer looked over to Yelena expectantly as he waited for her explanation.

"We are a secret organization working from the shadows," began Yelena as she took a step closer to the girls, "we work to protect and better humanity from corrupt people and governments," said Yelena as she paused to take in the confused expressions of the group. They were just children who had not grown up within Hydra, so to them all of this was new information.

"We're the good guys," she said as she tried to find a way to better explain it to children, "we want to protect people."

"Don't you guys want to help protect people?" asked Fleischer as he added onto what Yelena had just said.

The girls said nothing as they stole unsure glances at each other, their expressions conflicted and confused as they looked back the Yelena and Fleischer.

"How?" asked the girl with light brown hair as she looked up at the Baron for an explanation.

"By training," said Fleischer, "by working hard and by being the very best that you can be."

"I want my mommy," mumbled the youngest as she buried her head in the blond girl's arms, "I don't want to train or work hard."

"Well I'm afraid you don't have much of an option," said Fleischer as stood up, "so you're going to have to learn to live with it," he said as he stalked out of the room with Yelena.

Yelena remained quiet as she followed him out of the room, but stopped briefly to look back at the group, her eyes meeting the sad blue ones of one of the girls before she followed the Baron out of the room.

Yelena could already tell that the girls would have a hard time adjusting to their new lives here, not because she was being mean but because these girls seemed to be very attached to their former life. They had had homes before coming here, a luxury that Yelena had never had as well as having families who had loved and cared for them.

Yelena didn't have a family or a home. Nobody loved her and nobody cared about her, so letting go of that life hadn't been all that hard. The only thing she had had a hard time adjusting to was the physical abuse, but she learned to adjust over time.

But would these girls be able too?

Yelena had a sick feeling that she would find that out for herself soon, and it left her feeling worried.

She could only hope that they would adjust, or else she didn't know what Fleischer would do to them if they didn't.

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2007

Yelena sucked in her breath as she used her weight to step back before quickly twisting her head out of the instructors choke hold. She grabbed his arms and twisted it behind his back before kicking the back of his leg, causing him to fall forward onto the mat.

She had been combat training for over a year now and she seemed to only be getting better as time went on. She could now exercise almost every move perfectly without a single mistake, something Baron Fleischer praised her for immensely.

Yelena stepped off the mat and grabbed her water bottle and began chugging the cold and refreshing liquid down her parched throat. Her eyes traveling across the gym over to where the three girls were busy practicing their ballet, their little figures twirling gracefully across the gym.

Yelena could tell that girls were already tired as their movements had started to get slower and slower and their feet started trembling from the constant dancing.

Yelena was about to set her bottle down before she noticed Anna, the blond one, looking over in her direction with a slight look of jealously and disdain.

Anna was probably just jealous that she was not as advanced in her training as Yelena was, which was understandable. While they were just beginning the basics of ballet, Yelena had already graduated to actual combat training as well as weapons training.

But Yelena knew she had a slight advantage over these girls considering she was more dedicated to Hydra as well as having more ties to the organization than they did. None of them had a legacy to live up to like Yelena did.

Their fathers weren't deadly assassins who had made Hydra what it today.

It was who her father was that had encouraged her to through herself into her training and to work harder than ever before. And because of this, Yelena had improved considerably within the last few months much to the delight of Fleischer and the irritation of the girls.

She had already set the bar high for the other girls and Yelena knew Fleischer would expect only the best of them, but she couldn't bring herself to feel bad about that.

"Well done!" clapped Fleischer from where he stood, "that was beautiful, Lena."

Yelena nodded as she stepped off the mat and looked over to the girls, who were all glaring at Yelena with annoyance and disdain. The Baron never praised them for their accomplishments like he did Yelena, and that was something that made them jealous.

"Yelena," said Fleischer as he nodded towards the exit, "you may head to your next class."

Yelena nodded as she walked over to the changing room and changed into her normal attire before making her way over to the shooting range where her weapons instructor would be waiting to begin their daily training.

"You're late," he said gruffly as he watched her stalk into the room.

"Sorry," said Yelena as she grabbed a pair of ear plugs and goggles and put them on, "won't happen again."

"Better not," said the instructor as he handed her an unloaded handgun, "just do target practice for today."

Yelena nodded as she loaded the cartridge and turned the safety off before taking aim and firing. She let off a few more rounds before the instructor motioned for her to stop before taking the gun out of her hands. He walked over to the paper and pulled it down before holding it up in front of her so she could see how she did.

"You're getting better," he said as he threw the paper away and replaced it, "but you're aim is still a little off."

"I know," Yelena grumbled as she shook her head.

"Ease up on the trigger a little bit," said the instructor as he watched her reload the cartridge, "press the trigger smoothly with your finger, not your whole hand."

"I'm trying," grumbled Yelena as she aimed the gun again, "but I just can't seem to hit the target."

"You will," he said as he wrote something down on his clipboard, "with practice."

Yelena didn't say anything as she shot off a couple of rounds, her finger lightly pressing the trigger as she tried not to move her entire hand. She breathed in deeply in-between every shot and kept her eyes solely trained on the target.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," said the Instructor as he took the gun from her and unloaded it before walking out to grab the paper before holding It up for her to see.

Yelena remained quiet as she looked at the holes that littered the paper; the bulk of them located on the chest of the silhouette.

"Keep this up and we can move onto rifles soon," he said folding up the paper and set it aside instead of throwing it in the trash like he had the other ones.

Yelena continued her target practicing for the next few hours until it was time for dinner, but before that she headed back to her quarters to change out of her sweaty clothes and into something that didn't wreak of sweat.

She grabbed a hair tie off her dresser and pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail, her eyes lingering over the black and white polaroid that stared up at her innocently.

It had been a few months since Fleischer had told her about her connection to the Winter Soldier, and ever since then the picture had been sitting on her dresser to serve as a reminder of her purpose.

She would serve Hydra just like her father was and together they would help bring about world peace and security. They would help bring down corrupt organizations like Shield and no one would stand in their way.

Yelena briefly wondered if her father would be proud of her if he knew how much she had improved in these last few months. She wasn't that same weak little girl who had arrived here a year and half ago, she had changed for the better and she had become someone new.

And she owed it all to Hydra.


	12. Chapter 12

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2010

"Get up," came the gruff voice of Graham from her stood over her bed.

Yelena groaned as she flipped the lights on, her eyes watering as they tried to adjust to the sudden change of lighting.

"What time is it?" she asked blinking away the sleep in her eyes and forcing the covers off of her body.

"2:45," he said waiting for her to put a jacket over he sleepwear and put some shoes on.

"What does Fleischer want with me this early?" she asked pulling her messy bed hair into a ponytail and walking out of the room.

"I'm not sure, but it seems important," he said following closely behind her until they reached the conference room.

Earlier that week it was discovered that two of their scientists were selling information on Hydra's experiments off to a client in the U.K., when it had been discovered they had tried to flee the state, but had only managed to make it as far as Las Cruces before they had been caught.

Lisa Holden and Scott Darren, two promising scientist who had previously been employed at Sandia Labs before coming to work for Hydra, now sat chained to their seats awaiting the consequences of their actions.

"Lena," said Fleischer beckoning her further into the room. Yelena walked fearlessly into the room, assessing the two people shaking in their chairs, before coming to stand in front of her superior. She noticed her three fellow trainees standing off to the side, their eyes watching Yelena's every move as though they were judging her.

"Lisa Holden and Scott Darren," he said motioning towards the two, "were found to be selling classified information on our experiments and when we discovered what they were doing they tried fleeing. Now girls, do tell me what that would make them?"

"Traitors," they all said as they glared down at the two scientist.  
"And what is the price for treason?"

"Death," whispered Yelena as she stared down the woman who was pathetically crying at the verdict, the man held his head down, not making eye contact with anyone.

"You've shown yourself to be dedicated, but now it's time to show me that you are truly capable of carrying out Hydra's will," he said holding out a gun towards her.

Yelena only stared down at the small handgun, she knew what was expected of her and she knew what she had to do. She had known that this day would one day come, she just didn't know it would be this soon.

This moment right here would determine her future within Hydra and whether or not she was worthy to call herself the Asset's daughter. They had to know what she was capable of and this was the only way to know. For the past five years she had been trained and now it was time to take that to the next level.

She was not the first person to be asked to take somebodies life, it was a necessity within Hydra that their agents be able to take drastic measures. Her father had taken lives for the greater good of Hydra and by doing so he had most certainly guaranteed their success.

So why should she be capable of any less?

She had been extensively trained on how to use a gun and was quite adept at it, but never before had she actually killed someone with it.

She reached out and grabbed the gun, which was already loaded, and walked over to the woman who was making ungodly sounds from her mouth as big fat tears spilled down her cheeks, smearing her eyeliner and mascara. This woman was a traitor and by default deserved to die, and a well-aimed shot to the forehead had ensured that.

Yelena stared at the limp woman before she walked around to face the man who still had his head lowered as he recited his prayers. Yelena hardened her gaze as he raised her gun and fired, the string of prayers ending with a loud bang.

"Very good!" said Fleischer clapping his hands together and making his way over to her to clasp her shoulder. He was talking to her, but she didn't hear a word he was saying as she stared at the two limp bodies and the pool of blood that was growing on the ground. She knew she had done the right thing, it was all for the greater good.

She looked over to the other girls, but was only met with blank and dull stares as they looked down at the bodies with mute horror.

"And now I think it is time that you started going out with the team on missions now that you've proved yourself," said Fleischer, his hand lingering on her shoulder, "wouldn't you like that?"

"I would like that very much Baron," said Yelena flatly as she still stared the bodies.

"Marvelous!" said Fleischer wrapping an arm around her shoulder and guiding her away from the bodies which were now being untied and carried away, "I have talked with Director Pierce and he has decided to send you to Germany to escort and assist Ambassador Taffert in his mission. It will a relatively easy mission, so I am positive that there will be absolutely no room for failure."

Yelena should have been excited about going on a mission, it was what she had been waiting for almost five years and it meant that she was making her way up the chain, but for some reason she found herself dreading it.

By the time she had returned to her bed it was almost four o'clock, and no matter how much she just wanted to close her eyes and forget everything, all she could do was stare at the ceiling of her quarters with anticipation and fear for what was about to come.

AN: Good news, only 1-2 more chapters of Yelena's POV before we switch back to Bucky and Steve's. I got so into Yelena's story that I forgot that this is also Steve and Bucky's story as well, but I'm sure you all got a lot of her chapters with all the abuse and Stockholm and other amongst other things.

Comment and tell me what you thought J


	13. Chapter 13

Moscow  
2012

"Stop fussing Yelena," whispered the Ambassador as he placed his hands on her shoulder and squeezed tightly as a warning sign. Yelena was not used to wearing dresses, especially ones as scratchy and as frilly as the one she was wearing.

Her hair was also bothering her but she could not scratch her itching scalp for fear of ruining the neatly plaited style she was being forced to wear. Everything about the outfit she was wearing was impractical from the dress, the hairstyle, and even the small white flats that pinched her feet painfully.

She had to endure as people came up to talk to the Ambassador to talk about stuff like politics and economics, which although she knew she still found boring.

But she listened to every word that was said, cataloging it into her head and trying discern key words. She had been trained to take note of everything, nothing mustn't escape her attention.

"Ah you must be Melissa, no?" asked one of the men that had been talking with her undercover "father."

Melissa was only an alias that Yelena was currently using for the undercover mission, which was to pose as the daughter of Ambassador Taffert, who was one of Hydra's many influential members. But in reality she was just there to help spy and provide protection to the Ambassador, a job that she had been doing for almost two years now.

After all those years of training, they had finally placed her out in the field as an Operative, and now not only did she get to go on missions but now she was also being introduced to the world of politics.

"Hi," she said smiling and shaking the older man's hands. As part of her training she had to learn social skills and what was appropriate behavior for a twelve year old girl.

"It is so good to finally meet you Melissa, your father talks about you much," he said bending down to her level so they were eye to eye.

His accent reminded Yelena of Fleischer's, but his was thicker than the Baron's and more pronounced. The Baron had not lived in his native country for some time, so his accent had started to fade the longer he had lived in the U.S.

"Does he?" Yelena asked feigning shyness and curiosity, "All good things I hope."

"He tells me you enjoy school and hope to one day become a veterinarian, is that true?" he said smiling widely down at the child.

"I love animals," she said as she did her best to make her words believable.

"My daughter loves them too," he said shaking his head, "cats especially."

"He also mentioned that you play the piano?" he asked curiously as he grabbed some sort of truffle off a platter.

"I do," she confirmed as she shifted her weight to her other leg. She had no idea how to play the piano and she prayed that he would not ask her anything about it in case she wouldn't be able to answer.

"How long have you been playing?"

"A few years," said Yelena, "my dad wanted me to learn an instrument, so I chose the piano."

"I congratulate you for that," he said standing up, "I never had the patience to learn it and neither do my children."

"It can be challenging," she said as she made eye contact with Taffert from across the room. He motioned for her to make her way over to him, his posture rigid as he looked between Yelena and the older man.

"Excuse me," said Yelena politely to the man, "my father wants to talk to me," she said nodding over to Taffert.

"Well it was nice to meet you, Melissa," said the beaming man as he clapped her shoulder before spotting someone across the room and politely dismissing himself.

Yelena breathed a sigh of relief before she quietly made her way across the room and over to the Ambassador's side.  
"Sorry," mumbled Yelena quietly as she watched a woman wearing a beautiful red dress walk by, "he started it."  
"I know," he said taking a sip of his champagne, "Anton always makes it his mission to introduce himself to everybody," he said with annoyance.

Yelena was about to reply when she saw their target walk by them dressed in an expensive suit with a beautiful blond woman following close behind him.

Yelena yanked on the Ambassador's sleeve and pointed at the target and his companion silently.  
"It's time," said the Ambassador as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small chip and placed it into her hands, "you know what to do."

"Yes sir," she said before grabbing her glass of water that she had left on a table and made her way over to the target, Alec Schneider a German Politician.

For the past few years, Alec had been an important contributor and supplier of money to Shield as well as having close ties to the World Security Council. There was even a rumor going around that he wished to seek a seat on the council to represent Germany in Shield matters, something that Hydra had decided would not be in their best interest.

She got as close to him as possible while pretending to accidentally bump into him, effectively spilling her water down the front of his black suit and in his state of confusion quickly slipped the chip into his coat pocket.

"I am so sorry," she said grabbing the napkins off the nearby table and handing them to him so he could clean himself up, "I did not see you there Sir."

"No harm done," he said dabbing his shirt, "Melissa, right? Michael's daughter?"

"Yes," said Yelena as she handed him more napkins.  
"Well Melissa, I must warn you to watch where you are going in the future, wouldn't want to make a habit of it now would we?"  
"No Sir," said Yelena shaking her head innocently.

"Very well then, a pleasure to meet you Ms. Taffert," he said before walking away, the chip safely tucked away in his pocket.  
"Is it done?" asked Taffert as she made her way back to him.  
"I was successful," she said coming to stand next to him.

"Well done," he said reaching into his pocket and activating the signal as to alert the other Agents that they had been successful.  
"What's going to happen to him?" she asked.

"Didn't you know? They've called in the Asset," he said grabbing another champagne glass from one of the caterers.

Yelena's head shot up at the mention of the Asset, her eyes going wide as she looked up at the Ambassador for clarification.

It had been years since she had seen him last, the memory of him screaming in the chair still fresh in her mind. But now that she knew who he was to her she couldn't help but feel nervous about him being there.

"Don't worry, you will not have to see it. Although I do hear it is a sight to see the Asset in action, they say he could put the fear of God into any grown man."

Yelena shuddered as the memory of him being tied down to the chair still haunted her, it was a memory that had plagued her often through the years and still frequently visited her dreams.

"He's here in Moscow?" she asked tugging on his shirt sleeve.  
"What's wrong little girl, scared of the Asset?" he said smirking down at her.

She didn't know if she was scared of him or not. He was a deadly lethal assassin who could kill anybody with one swift blow to the face, but on the other hand he was her progenitor. But of course, as Fleischer had put it, he could never be her father no matter how much she desired one.

If he were ordered to, he would kill her without a second thought without remorse, and that alone frightened her.

Yelena hadn't known that this night would end in an assassination or that the Asset would be involved at all. She thought the chip was some sort of spy device, not a tracker the Asset would use to kill him.

She hadn't known that her mission would be helping the Asset complete his.

"Can we leave?" she asked as she tried to redirect her thoughts from her father and his mission.

"Why?" he asked, "are you tired?"

"I just want to go, I don't want to stay here any longer," she said as she looked at his wrist-watch for the time.

"Is it because of the Asset?" he asked as his eyes narrowed, "are you nervous or something?"

"No," said Yelena adamantly, "I just want to go."

"Fine," he said as he led her outside to the car that had been given to them, courtesy of the Embassy of course.

Yelena slid into her seat and buckled up her seat belt, remaining silent as they were driven back to their fancy hotel. As they were driving, she noticed a flashing lights and sirens all gathered around a single car that had been completely totaled.

Yelena knew as soon as she saw the two body bags that it was Alec Schneider and his female companion. Yelena felt bad that she had to die when she hadn't even done anything to warrant as assassination from the Asset. She was innocent and she had died just because she had been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Hydra sure does like using car accidents as cover ups," said Taffert as he leaned over her for a better look, "did the same thing to Howard Stark and his wife Maria a few years ago."

Yelena remained silent as the car drove by the scene, her gaze darkening as she inspected the totaled car.

She was about to look away when she saw what looked like the shadow of a man watching from the dark of the woods, but before she could get a good look at him he was gone.

He had disappeared like a ghost into the woods, the only evidence of him ever having been there laying in the back of the ambulance.

And Yelena couldn't help but **_shudder_**.

AN: One more chapter of Yelena before we get back to Steve and Bucky's POV, plus you guys will be getting a double update in a few short days. Possibly even tomorrow if I can get all my homework done. I can also guarantee that the meeting between father and daughter will be happening soon, and I promise it's gonna be tense.

Comment and tell me what you thought.


	14. Chapter 14

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2012

It was only a weeks after Yelena's mission in Moscow when Director Pierce had decided to come out to New Mexico so he could personally inspect Fleischer's program for himself.

The Baron had been beside himself with excitement and had begun to make preparation for the visit weeks in advance. They trained even harder so as to be able to impress the Director, something that they knew the Baron would demand of them nonetheless.

The Director looked the same as Yelena had remembered him except for a few more wrinkles and grey hairs, but still recognizable as the man she met all those years ago.

The man who had introduced her to her father was the same man who stood before them waiting for the show to begin.

"Girls!" said Fleischer from where he stood next to Pierce, his hands behind his back stiffly as he observed all four of them, "what do you say we show the Director just what you're capable of, yes?"

All the girls stole uneasy glances at each other, their eyes betraying their rigid postures and stiff faces. It was as though they could sense something bad was about to happen.

"Anna and Isabel first," he said motioning for the two girls to make their way onto the mat. Both of the girls nodded before coming to stand on either side of the mat, their faces staring into each other's blankly as they waited for the order to start.

"Begin," said Fleischer as she looked over to an apprehensive Pierce, who was intently watching the girls.

Anna and Isabel both took their stances as they slowly circled each other, both waiting for one of them to strike first.

Anna was the one to strike, her fists swinging towards the other girls face before using her weight to try and kick her in the face. Yelena knew from experience that Anna was impatient and rash when it came to fighting and that she was often times the first one to attack, and while that did make her brave it was all too predictable.

Isabel easily blocked the oncoming attacks, her slender body moving with agility and gracefulness as she danced around the other girl.

Isabel was the picture of patience and serenity as she simply blocked and counter-attacked against the other girl without even breaking a sweat, a trait that Yelena had admired in the girl.

But Anna was bigger and stronger as she managed to grab Isabel's arm and twist it painfully behind her arm in a locked position, causing the other girl to yell in pain before using her other arm to deliver a hard blow to Anna's face.

Yelena looked over her shoulder to see Pierce's perplexed expression as he looked at the two dueling girls, his arms coming to rest across his chest. The Baron looked pleased with himself as he smiled at the scene before him, obviously enjoying the look of surprise on the Director's face.

For girls as young as they were, they fought with a ferocity that one would expect to see in a grown operative who had trained for years, not from pre-pubescent children.

The fight continued for a few more seconds before Isabel managed to grab Anna's leg in a lock before she twisted it up and pulled, causing the sound of broken bone to reverberate throughout the room.

Yelena had no doubt that Isabel had managed to break either Anna's tibia or fibula bone, most likely her fibula considering how much force would have to be exerted to break any of the other bones in the leg.

Either way, it was not a good scenario for Anna.

Anna screamed in pain as she fell to the floor cradling her broken leg, her teary eyes looking up to meet the disapproving ones of the Baron.

Yelena felt bad for the girl considering there was no way she could win the fight now as well as the disappointment that came with failure.

Isabel wasted no time in swiftly grabbing Anna in a head lock to signify her victory, something that their trainer had always taught them to do once their opponent was down to further incapacitate them.

Isabel looked over to the Baron victoriously as she awaited the order to let the other girl go, as they always did in these situations.

The Baron clapped his hands, "very good Isabel! Very good," he said smiling over at the Director before looking back to the two girls, his blue eyes darkening ever so slightly.

"Now," he said clasping his hands behind his back once again, "finish her."

Yelena's stomach dropped at the order, his instruction clear yet deafening as Sofia looked up at her confusion.

Only Yelena had ever been asked to take a life and that had been a test, but none of the other girls had ever killed before.

But apparently this was Isabel's test and Yelena wasn't sure if she would be able to complete it.

Anna's eyes widened in fear as she looked frantically over to the Director, her eyes silently pleading for her life but found that he would not deliver his help. Instead, he looked only looked at them with apprehension.

He wanted to how dedicated these girls were.

Isabel looked down at Anna, their eyes meeting each other briefly as silent tears rolled down both of their cheeks.

It was obvious from the conflict in Isabel's eyes that she couldn't bring herself to do it, no matter the consequences.

"No," whispered Isabel sadly as she looked over to the two grown men.

"What was that?" asked the Baron as his voice dipped dangerously low. The Director said nothing as he looked over to the Baron to see what the younger man would do.

"I can't," cried Isabel as she let Anna go.

As soon as Anna was free from Isabel's arm, she desperately tried to crawl away from the girl but only screamed in pain at the pressure being applied to her leg.

Her face was wet with tears and blood dripped freely from her nose and onto the mat as she crawled forward inch by inch.

She looked absolutely pathetic.

Baron Fleischer wasted no time in grabbing his gun from his waist band before stalking over to a crying Isabel with a dangerous look in his eyes and a sneer on his lips.

"I gave you an order!" he yelled as he pointed his gun at the girl.

Isabel stood frozen as she stared down the barrel of the gun, her eyes wide and full of tears as she looked over to where Yelena and Sofia stood watching them.

"Don't look," whispered Yelena as she grabbed the crying child and pulled her close to her side. She knew what was about to happen and for some reason she didn't think it right for the nine year old girl to watch.

Isabel had just defied and embarrassed the Baron in front of the Director himself, and that was something the Fleischer would never forgive her for nor would he be merciful.

Yelena shut her eyes as she heard the bang and the sound of a body dropping to the floor, causing Anna to scream from where she lay on the floor.

Anna was weak and weakness was not something that Hydra would tolerate.

She had failed and would receive the same verdict that Isabel was supposed to give her, and there was nothing anyone could do to save her.

"No! Please don't!" cried Anna as the Baron picked her up off the floor and wrapped his strong arms around her fragile neck before quickly snapping it.

Yelena could feel Sofia shudder at the sound as well as the wet tears that poured freely from the poor child's eyes, but Yelena didn't mind.

Yelena slowly opened her eyes but soon regretted it as soon as she saw Isabel's lifeless eyes staring back at her, a gunshot wound gracing the middle of her forehead.

Yelena looked over to where the Baron stood menacingly over the lifeless body of Anna, his back hunched over before he looked over his shoulder to look Yelena in the eye.

Yelena stood frozen as she looked at the Baron, who in that moment resembled a crazed animal more than a man, before looking over at the Director.

Director Pierce looked completely unfazed as he looked at the two bodies that littered the floor with a blank expression before looking up at the Baron.

"Well that was disappointing," he said pursing his lips as he shook his head.

"When I authorized this program I was expecting highly trained operatives," he said grimacing down at the bodies, "not disobedient little girls."

"You saw what they were capable of!" cried Fleischer as he stalked over to the Director, "You saw what they could do!"

"And now they're dead," said the Director, "they're not exactly of use anymore, are they?"

The Baron breathed heavily through his nose as he tried to calm his raging anger, "please Director if you were to see-."

"I've seen enough," said the Director as he cut the younger man off, "you can keep your program, but I will not authorize anymore girls joining."

"But I can't keep the program running with only two girls!" said the Baron in disbelief.

"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you killed half of your students off," he said pointedly as he reached into his pocket to grab his ringing cell phone and made his way out of the room to answer it.

"Yelena," the Baron said tersely as he looked at her from over his shoulder, "please take Sofia to the mess hall and get something to eat."

"Yes Sir," she said as she pried the child away from her body, making sure to keep her eyes shielded from the two bodies.

She led a still sobbing Sofia into the mess hall and made her some food before leading her back to her quarters to tuck her into bed. It had been a rough day and some sleep would do everybody some good at that point.

"They're never coming back are they?" asked Sofia innocently as she pulled the covers close to her. Sofia was just a little girl and she really hadn't fully grasped the concept of death yet, even though she had been there.

"No," said Yelena blatantly as she turned the light off and opened the door.

"Is the Baron mad?" she asked before Yelena could leave, her wide eyes staring up at the older girl.

"He's not happy," said Yelena truthfully as she shook her head.

"Do you think we should try to cheer him up?" she asked quietly.

Yelena said nothing as she stared down at the child and sighed heavily before stepping out of the room.

"Goodnight Sofia," she said before closing the door and making her way back towards her room.

She was about to open the door to her quarters when she heard an agonizing yell followed by the sound of things being thrown and smashed to the floor.

Yelena glanced curiously down the hallway before following the sounds of things breaking only to be led to the door of the Baron's office. She looked through the window to see the Baron trashing his own office angrily, his face red with fury as he smashed everything in sight.

When he was done ruining his office, he sat down heavily in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face before pouring himself a glass of whiskey and downing it in one sip and then again.

Yelena slowly backed away and made her way back to her quarters, her heart racing as she fell back onto her bed and stared up at the bland ceiling. She had never seen the Baron like this before and it made her nervous to see him that angry.

She had never seen someone so angry or more volatile than the Baron and she knew that she had better not get on his bad side ever again. She didn't want that sort of anger being released on her or Sofia, nor did she ever want to see that side of him ever again.

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2012

It had only been a few weeks after the Director's visit that Captain America was discovered alive on the ice. It had caused quite the uproar with Hydra when it was discovered that the man who had killed Red Skull and forced them into hiding as well as being the possessor of Erskine's famous serum was found indeed alive off the coast of Greenland in the Valkyrie.

But it wasn't just that he had been found alive, it was also the fact that he and a rag-tag team of vigilantes had saved New York from aliens and were now parading around calling themselves the Avengers.

To be honest, Yelena did not know what to think of the Avengers as she watched the destruction of New York City from the mess hall television with all the other agents.

She had been taught that Captain America had very nearly brought about their destruction during the Second World War and because of that she had grown to hate the man with every fiber of her being even though she had never met him personally.

He was the embodiment of everything Hydra hoped to eradicate from this chaotic and perverse world, everything he stood for was against their beliefs and he had already proven himself to be a formidable enemy in the past.

Yelena had learned a little bit about Captain America and the Howling Commandos in her history studies. She had learned how he was a short, underweight guy from Brooklyn who had signed up for Dr. Erskine's Project Rebirth and had become Captain America before heading off to join the war effort in Europe.

But even then, there was still so much Yelena did not know about Rogers or the Howling Commandos. For some reason her teacher had only gone over the most important details, leaving the smaller ones out as well as not showing her any pictures of Steve and his team.

When she asked her instructor why she was not allowed to see any photography she had simply been brushed off with the excuse that they had no available pictures, which Yelena knew was absolute bull.

Did her teacher think she was a moron? Hydra kept such detailed records and pictures surely they could spare one to show her? When she asked Fleischer if she could have access to the pictures she was harshly told no and to not ask again.

Everybody thought that he had taken down Hydra upon his subsequent death in 1945, but what they did not know was that Hydra had survived through Dr. Zola and Shield. Ever since then, Hydra had been in hiding, like an infection festering in an open wound.

Hydra was patient, they had been for the last sixty-seven years and they must still be patient for only just a few years. The world was becoming so chaotic that soon enough people would be willing to give up their free will and submit to the rule of Hydra, and people like Captain Rogers and Shield would be crushed under the weight of their superiority. They need only wait just a bit longer and grow just a bit bigger.

But Captain Rogers being found and aliens attacking New York City was not the only strange thing to happen that year, it was also the year that Yelena hit puberty. Her small and slender body was starting to change in ways that were foreign to her. She grew taller, her chest started to fill out, her hips widened and her face went from round and innocent to angular. Of course, Yelena was not the only one to notice such changes in her body, Baron Fleischer had of course noticed and she felt his eyes on her more than so in the past.

She had barely turned thirteen when she was called into Fleischer's office for a private meeting, which she was accustomed to, but lately these meetings between them had started to become stranger and more personal.

Baron Fleischer had always been a touchy sort of guy, he liked petting hair and sometimes his hands would linger a bit longer than what was normal, but as of lately he was starting to get more personal with her.

This time he leaned down to smell the scent of her hair and trailed his hands faintly over where her neck met her chest and sometimes his hands would trail down the length of her hips in a light and ticklish way.

And just a few weeks ago she had come back from a mission to find a neatly wrapped present waiting for her on her bed. She had been utterly confused at the sight of the light pink wrapped present, she had never been given a present like this in her entire lifetime.

So she unwrapped it carefully and opened the white box to find a light blue dress folded neatly with a letter sitting on top of it. The letter was from Baron Fleischer wishing her a happy thirteenth birthday, which was quite a surprised for her considering it had been years since she had celebrated a birthday and had forgotten that it was indeed the eighteenth of February, her birthday.

Yelena was confused as to why she was receiving a dress, she after all did not wear dresses unless she was undercover, and even then it was exceedingly rare. But never the less she had put on the knee-length dress and thanked the Baron for such a lavish gift that she did not deserve. He told her simply to not think on it too much and that the dress brought out the brown in her eyes and that when he saw it he couldn't help but think of her.

As soon as Yelena was back in her own room she took the dress off and folded it before shoving it into the back of her closet where she hoped nobody could see.

She hated wearing dresses, and she particularly hated this one although she did not know why.

But those strange events were quickly forgotten along with the dress that had been hidden away, but still Fleischer's strange behavior did not stop, in fact it only seemed to get worse as the weeks went by.

But Yelena could do nothing, and she wouldn't even if she could. She had been trained to overcome any obstacle and challenge that was put before her without complaining or failing. There was nothing she could do but hold her head high and take whatever happened to her like she had been trained to.

Baron Fleischer said the reason he was touching her was to prepare her, but sometimes she felt there was more to it. But what she could do?

So she said nothing as the hands ran up and down her body and caressed her skin.

It was a way of asserting a certain amount of control over someone. It was not something for her to enjoy, it was something that she had to learn to endure.

The only things she had been forced to endure were the hands of the Baron, which was something she had learned to easily dismiss. She had taught herself not to be bothered by it and she had become accustomed to it as the year ended and another one started.

The start of 2014 hadn't seemed that exciting compared to the two previous years. So far there had been no aliens trying to invade Earth, no U.S. Presidents getting kidnapped by enhanced terrorists, no spaceships tearing through London, in fact it was proving itself to be quite a boring year. Her fourteenth birthday came and passed, she continued to go on missions and she continued to further her training with the instructors to better herself.

So indeed it had come as an unexpected shock when news of Director Fury's death had reached them, of course anybody with half a mind would've realized that it was the Asset that had been responsible for the killing. From what little she knew, Project Insight was almost ready to come online and it was time for Hydra to take action.

They had been waiting so long for this moment, and now it was finally here after waiting and hiding for seventy years.

But what was not expected in their plans was Captain Rogers and the Widow escaping the Winter Soldier and leaking the news that Shield was Hydra to the whole world.

Yelena watched in horror at the screen as Project Insight was destroyed right in front of their eyes, exploding in a rain of fire and then falling into the Potomac. Everything that they had worked to accomplish, gone in only a matter of seconds.

And not only had they been exposed, the Director was dead and the Asset was nowhere to be found in the mess that was Washington D.C., they were now saying that he had gone rogue.

Yelena couldn't believe it when she heard the news that he had indeed gone rogue after saving Captain Rogers life by dragging him out of the Potomac.

Why on Earth would he save that man? That man who had ruined everything the Asset had worked to accomplish, and now he was rescuing him?

It made absolutely no sense to Yelena, but she did come to the conclusion that the Asset was a traitor for saving him and then up and leaving afterwards. It didn't matter to her that he was her father, because he was a traitor and the punishment for that was death.

But no matter how much she tried to convince herself of that, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for wanting her own progenitor dead. She had been taught that children were supposed to love their parents, but not her. She was not supposed to love her father, and she didn't. Did she admire him? Of course, but love? He didn't love her, he wasn't capable of love and she didn't love him.

So what did it matter if he died? All traitors should die for their actions, and he deserved no less.


	15. Chapter 15

New Mexico  
2015

"What a quaint little town," said Bucky as he observed the street from the café that they were currently sitting in. They were just wasting time until Shield gave them the green light to begin, which wouldn't be for a few more hours from the looks of it.  
"Pay attention Buck," said Steve before returning to listening to his earpiece which was currently feeding them information.

Bucky twiddled his fingers in agitation before getting up from his seat and meandering over to the register where a stack of newspapers were being sold.

"How much?" he asked the pretty cashier from behind the counter. He hoped it wouldn't be too expensive seeing as he only had a few quarters in his pocket, as well as the fact that he was still used to the economy back in the forties.

"75 cents," she said returning the smile.

Bucky internally cringed at the price, which was more than we would've paid for a movie ticket back in the day, but decided now was not the time to complain about inflation as he handed her three quarters.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he took the newspaper and returned to his seat before flipping through the articles to try and calm his nerves.

Ever since the quinjet had landed here he had felt agitated and jumpy, which he guessed was normal given the circumstance, but he just couldn't suppress the distressing feeling in his gut.

He just wanted to get in and get the job done and get the girl and get out of this place for good and actually get a good night's rest.

Following the months after the fall of Shield, he had found himself unable to sleep because of the memories and dreams that had plagued him. Every night he relived the fall from the train and all that Hydra had done to him only to wake up in his shabby apartment that he had been holed up hiding from Hydra and the world.

Then he found Steve again, and for the first time months he actually slept in peace. Things were looking up for him and life was actually good, but then he had found out just how much Hydra had violated him and getting a good night's rest became a distant memory.

He just couldn't get the image of his baby daughter out of his head, and it kept him up at all hours of the night. He would lie there with the picture and feel anger, guilt, remorse, and violation all at the same time. And no matter how much Steve and Sam told him it wasn't his fault, it didn't lessen the anger or pain.

"Is that what it looks like to you?" asked Steve asked Sam over the com, "Are you sure?"

Bucky listened idly as Steve droned on, occasionally scratching his itching head under the red baseball cap he was wearing and adjusting his sunglasses on his nose.

"What'd he say?" asked Bucky once the connection between the coms was disconnected.

"They found what looks to be an underground bunker in the woods," said Steve, "also found bio-signs coming from within."

"So when do we go in?" asked Bucky.  
"Tonight."

"Why tonight? We could hit it now, he have the resources and the men," asked an agitated Bucky. Tonight was too far away for him to wait.

"Shield's trying to get as much information as they can before they send their men in. We don't really know what's in there so they're exercising caution."

"What time tonight?" grumbled Bucky as he sat the paper down.

"The team will meet up here at six and then we move out," said Steve, "In the meantime we're going to lay low, we don't want to alert them to our presence."  
"You don't think after the Triskelion falling and Hydra being exposed they wouldn't be on high alert?" asked Bucky.

"Most likely, but apparently even Hydra took safety measures and not all of their information was leaked onto the internet. And it helps that they don't know the other base in D.C. was cleared out by Shield."

"We don't know that for sure, somebody could've gotten a message out," pointed out Bucky.  
"Well of course we don't know for sure, but they seem to be unaware of the situation or else they would've packed up and moved, which they didn't."

Bucky nodded his head at Steve's words, agreeing with the statement that if they knew they would've packed and moved, which of course they didn't if there were life signs in the bunker.  
"Six huh?" asked Bucky looking at his wrist watch for the time, "That leaves us with two hours to kill."

"You want to get something to eat?" asked Steve as he motioned over to the counter where the menus were.  
"Not hungry," said Bucky sighing as he leaned his head against the wall in boredom.

"You think they tortured her?" asked Bucky out of the blue as he watched a group of teenage boys skate by them outside. He wasn't asking out of curiosity, he was asking out curious guilt.

"Oh really Buck?" asked Steve as he leaned forward, "Why would you even ask that?"

Bucky only shrugged his shoulders flatly, his body language showing no emotion.  
"You think they wiped her too? Turned her into a killing machine just like her old man?" he was trying to bait Steve into making him feel guilty. He was tired of people being so sympathetic and understanding and assuring him it wasn't his fault when he just wanted someone to blame him.

"Stop," said Steve harshly, "Just stop it Buck, none of this is your fault so stop blaming yourself."

Bucky only continued to stare blankly across the street, not really hearing his friend's words. And to be honest, he really didn't want to hear them.  
"Do you ever blame yourself for what happened on the train?" he asked, his voice straining.

The look on Steve's face said what his words didn't. Even after seventy years he still felt guilty about not being able to save Bucky from falling off that train in the Alps, and with the news that he had survived it and that Hydra had gotten their hands on him only made the guilt grow.

"It wasn't your fault punk," said Bucky, "but you still feel guilty."  
"I could've jumped after you," whispered Steve.

Bucky tilted his head back and laughed bitterly, "and what? Let Hydra get their hands on two super-soldiers? Let them get a hold of Erskine's serum so they could build and army of super-soldiers like you?" Bucky bit back an almost painful whimper, "you know it was better for me to have fallen instead of you."

The words felt like vinegar in his mouth, but he knew it was the truth. It was better for him to have fallen off the train and let Hydra get their hands on him than let them get their grimy hands on Steve.

Steve said nothing as he leaned back in his chair dejectedly because he knew he couldn't say anything. No matter how much he wanted to deny it he knew Bucky was right, and it only made him feel like an awful individual for even thinking it.

It would've been better if Hydra hadn't gotten their hands on either of the two, but in the end they did and now all they could was pick up the pieces and try to move on.

For the next couple of hours they both sat silently, Steve drinking his coffee while Bucky read the paper. The waitress didn't seem to mind them hanging around for so long and would come by occasionally to refill their drinks and make small talk.

They sat like that for who knows how long, just two friend sitting at a cafe left only with their individual thoughts and guilt as their silent companion.  
"We should go," said Steve looking at his phone for the time, "it's almost six."

Bucky only sat there in silence as Steve hoisted himself up, absentmindedly drawing doodles on the table with his metal arm, which had been completely covered. Only a few hours ago he had wanted nothing but to get this mission done, but now he didn't even want to leave the café.

He had barely noticed the passage of time over these past few hours, but the setting sun was proof enough that they had indeed been sitting there for hours.

"I can't," he whispered still rooted to his spot.  
"Come on Buck, there's a little girl who's in need of rescuing."  
"I'm scared," he said truly confronting his emotions about the entire situation.  
"Of what? A fifteen year old girl?" said Steve smirking.

"No, I'm not scared of her," said Bucky shaking his head, "I'm scared of what they've done to her."  
"Hey, we'll deal okay? We've gotten through this before and we can get through this again," said Steve hoisting him up.

Bucky said nothing as they made their way to the rendezvous point and he still said nothing as they rattled off the plan for getting into the complex, he only listened to the important details of the mission and how they execute their plan.

During the debriefing, he could feel Natasha's worried eyes on him, but he couldn't even really bare to look at her because all he felt was remorse and anger. Remorse that he had shot her and anger because she knew about Yelena and chose not to tell him.  
So he ignored her worrisome glances and focused on the mission.

They had two missions, to clear out the base and to rescue Yelena.

It was the first time that Bucky had openly thought about the name that was listed on the file, which was obviously a Russian name. It was a fairly pretty name, not one he would've named his kid, but none the less a pretty name.

Once the briefing was done they headed their way out to the complex and stayed hidden outside of it as they readied themselves to take it over. Bucky stayed with Steve while Natasha and Clint separated and went with the Strike Team and Sam was currently being their eyes and ears from the sky.

Steve was donned in his Captain America attire, his shield out and ready while Bucky was in his usual black attire with the arm on his jacket cut off as to showcase his metal arm.

Bucky had changed into it especially because for some perverse reason he wanted everybody there to know who he was and that he was no longer on their side.

"Strike Team do you read me?" asked Steve over his com.  
"Loud and clear," came the Strike Teams leader.  
"Are you ready for the go?" asked Steve.

"Yes sir."  
"You ready Romanov?" he asked directing the com towards her.  
"Barton and I are ready whenever you are."

"You ready Buck?" this time his question was directed at him.  
Bucky only nodded in reply, his hands held clenched around his gun.

"Let's do this."

AN: The next chapter will contain a certain father-daughter meeting that I know you've been waiting for for a long time now. I hope you guys are as excited as I am :)

Comment and tell me what you thought.


	16. Chapter 16

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2015

Yelena had barely laid her head down on the pillow before the base alarms were blaring in her ears obnoxiously. The base alarms hardly ever sounded and when they did it usually meant that something bad was happening, but it hadn't happened in years so it came as a surprise to her to hear the shrill beeping.

Yelena scrambled up and threw on her shoes, not bothering to change out of her sweats or tank top and grabbed her personal issued gun before she ran out the door to find the base in panic mode. There was yelling and frantic running as the base was being attacked by an unknown enemy and the people were scrambling to get weapons and other various things.

"Collins!" yelled Yelena as she grabbed the young agents arm, "what's going on?"  
"Shield's found us," he said brushing her hand away from his shoulder, "go find Fleischer!" he said before he ran off down the corridor.

Yelena only had seconds to register his words before she was running down the corridor towards the records room where Fleischer was sure to be if Shield was the one attacking them, not paying attention to the gunfire and yelling. There were records that were being kept there that could not fall into Shield's hands no matter what and they had to be protected at all costs.

"Baron!" cried Yelena as she ran into the room to find him hurriedly thrusting various files into his brief case.  
"Yelena," he said not even lifting his head as he continued to cram the bag full of files, "it seems as though Shield has found us."

"How?" she asked as she peaked out of the window into the dark corridor that was lit only by the red flashing of the alarm.

This was base was so well hidden that it wasn't even on the file leak that was leaked onto the internet last year, nor had there been any evidence that they had been discovered.

"I have no idea and I'm not about to stay to find out, that's why I have a helicopter waiting to take us out with the files if we hurry," he said as he frantically tried to cram a few more files into his bag before hastily deciding to use his other one.

"What about the others?" she asked as Fleischer grabbed her arm and dragged her across the hall and into the surveillance room.

"Sacrifices must be made Yelena, you know that," he said forcing her into the seat that faced the many monitors that displayed the base, "now sit here and tell me when someone is coming," he said before getting on the other computer to access the online files.

Yelena watched the screens as the base slowly fell into the hands of their enemy. She watched as fellow agents and people she knew fell and were forced to surrender and lay their guns down.

She was sweeping over the monitors when something out of the corner of her eyes caught her attention. She had to look closely and almost did a double take when she saw the iconic shield of Captain America being wielded by the man himself.

Her eyes were so focused on the Captain that she almost missed seeing the man fighting next to him with deadly accuracy and precision. She almost gasped when he turned himself so that he was facing the security camera because she knew who it was. His brown hair was the same length and the metal of his arm shined in the light of the room he was in, the red star of Communism blatantly displayed across his metal bicep.

Although she had briefly seen him on television during the whole fiasco that had taken place last year, this was the first time in ten years that she had actually gotten a real good look at him and she could tell he looked exactly the same as he had all those years ago. He didn't seem to have aged at all from when she had seen him in through the glass of his cryo-tube with Mr. Pierce.

"Captain America is here and he has the Asset with him," she said gaping in horror at her father as he fought off his attackers.

Never before had she seen such agility or resilience before in anyone, not even Captain America or the Black Widow fought with such finesse as he did.

Of course he did have a few more decades on him than they did.

Fleischer ran over to look at the monitor over her shoulder to be met with the same sight before grabbing her arm and yanking her up like a rag doll.

"We need to get these files to the helicopter," he said pulling the bags up on his shoulder, "I assume you know what to do?" he said pointing to the gun that she had placed on the table next to her.

"Yes sir," she said grabbing it before she followed him out of the room and towards the roof where the helicopter would be waiting for them to depart.

As they ran she stayed next to him ready to defend him just as she had been trained to do in such circumstances, she covered him and cleared the hallways first before they ran down them. She ignored the gunfire and bodies that littered the floor as they made their way to stairs that would lead them to the roof.

They had to take various detours due to running into Shield Agents and even the Black Widow herself as she attacked their Agents with lethal force. Yelena had only got a glimpse of red hair before she was pulling the Baron in another direction to avoid conflict with her.

Yelena was out of breath once they had finally made it to the roof, her breaths coming out short and haggard only to see the helicopter that had been waiting for them in flames and the pilot nowhere to be found and various Hydra agents' bodies strewn across the roof.

Baron Fleischer barely had enough time to register what was happening before the famous shield of Captain America was flying through the air to meet them, but Yelena did. She grabbed the older man and yanked them to the ground as the shield flew over their heads towards one of their Agents that had been climbing up the emergency stairs to help them.

Yelena watched as the man, whom she had been acquainted with, was thrown to the ground by the sheer force of the shield as it barreled into his chest before it seemingly bounced off of him and flew back to its owner.

Yelena never thought she would ever get the see the man who had nearly destroyed them twice face to face, and yet there he was barreling towards them with his shield secured back in his hands.

Yelena acted quickly, grabbing her gun and aiming it at the quickly approaching man and fired off a few rounds, which much to her dismay were easily blocked by his shield.

It all happened so quickly that she barely had time to register it all as the Captain raised his shield and threw it in her general direction. Yelena had thought it was intended for her, but as she ducked she turned to see it hit Baron Fleischer in the back as he was running away with the files in hand, causing him to face-plant into the mud.

She saw her opportunity to raise her gun and shoot him in the brief period of time before his shield came flying back into his hands, but she never even got the chance to fire before she heard the click of a gun next to her head. She turned to see the barrel of a gun pointed right at her, but she barely noticed it when she saw who the person was holding the gun.

Of all the ways she envisioned of meeting the Asset, this definitely was not one of them. He stood tall and rigid, his metal arm gripping the rifle in a threatening matter. His brown hair fell into his face, slightly covering the blues of his eyes, which were apprehensive and regretful as he stared her down.

Yelena was frozen in fear and fascination as she stared up at the tall metal armed assassin, her mission to shoot the Captain completely forgotten about as she stared at his gun, which had been pointed at her shoulder instead of her head.

It was obvious he did not intend to kill her, but that he was ready to shoot her if she wouldn't capitulate.

"Drop it," he said, his voice surprisingly soft and calm.

Yelena was not dumb, she knew she had been outsmarted and outmatched. She knew when it was time to fight, and when it was time to surrender and now was not the time to fight, so she lowered her gun and dropped it to the ground all while not breaking eye contact with her father.

Her father kept his eyes on her as he bent down and retrieved the gun which she had kicked his way. While he was doing this, she noticed a person unknown approach her with a set of handcuffs in their hands.

She knew that in situations such as this that certain measures would be taken to insure the safety of others, even if that meant viewing her as a threat. Yelena simply held out her hands and allowed the man to place the cuffs on gently, which was something she had not expected.

All while this was happening, she noticed Fleischer being hauled up to his feet in a daze and led off by Shield agents as the files were collected off the ground where they had been dropped.

Yelena couldn't help but feel ashamed and embarrassed as the files that Hydra had worked so hard to keep a secret were simply picked up and put into an evidence container to be reviewed at a later time. She had failed her mission and there was no excuse for that kind of failure. What kind of Agent was she if she couldn't do what she had been trained and entrusted to do?

But even with such emotions of failure running through her head, she still kept her face blank and emotionless as she was led away by Shield Agents. She simply kept her eyes on the blue ones of her father as he looked on from where he was standing a few feet away. He hadn't tried to talk to her or approach her, he only stared at her like he was trying to assess her.

She wondered if he knew who he was to her and if that was the reason that he was here, but decided to stay quiet for the time.

She was led by two Shield Agents into the building complex that only a few hours ago had been a secret Hydra base, but Shield had found them and had successfully taken it over and detained everybody in it. She could see as Hydra Agents and employees were led to where they would be interrogated and then most likely sentenced to prison for what other people considered a crime.

She honestly didn't know what would happen to her now that she had been detained by the enemy. There was no possibility of Hydra helping her out at this point. The remaining Hydra groups around the world were too busy trying to remain hidden and out of the public's eye that they didn't have time to come and rescue them.

There wasn't that much people worth saving and she definitely did not warrant a rescue for herself. She was just a failed Hydra experiment to recreate Zola's serum and apparently a failure when it came to performing her duties to the best of her abilities. Although she had been trained for years, she honestly didn't bring much to the table. She wasn't enhanced like her progenitor and she didn't have special abilities like other experiments did. She was just a normal human being who had been trained to be an Agent and possibly an infiltrator in the future.

As she walked, she noticed a second pair of footsteps following close behind. She slightly turned her head to see the Asset walking some distance behind them, his hands were shoved into his pockets and his postures showed that he seemed unsure and cautious as he hung back from them.

Yelena could hardly believe that this man, who looked more like a lost puppy, was one of the most deadly assassins in the world.

As a child she had been so fascinated with the man named Zima and that fascination had only grown when Fleischer told her about her blood connection to him. She had been so young when she found who he was to her, and she had had dreams about him coming to take her away so that they could be family. But those dreams quickly died like the innocence that came with it.

She learned that he was not a person, he was a weapon to be used against their enemies and all those who didn't agree with their beliefs. Hydra had created him and he would always belong to them, like a piece of property.

But that was not the man who was cautiously following behind them. He looked guilty about having to point his gun at her, but he didn't really have a choice. Had it not been for him she would've killed Rogers without a second thought if given the chance.

She still did not show any emotion as she was led into what was conference room and seated in one of the open chairs, not failing to notice that Zima did not follow them in.

"Hello Yelena," came a soft and cool voice from the doorway. Yelena raised her eyes to meet the Black Widow as she pulled out the chair from across her and sat down gracefully, like a cat poised and calm.

Yelena didn't say anything, she just continued to stare blackly at the redheaded woman.  
"Would you like some water?" she asked politely as she motioned towards a pitcher of water and a glass that sat to the side of them.

Yelena again did not say anything as a glass of water was poured and set down in front of her, she made no motion to grab it, she only stared at the clear substance through the glass.  
"You know," she said looking at Yelena, "we've been looking for you for quite some time young lady."

"Is that so," she said lamely as she pushed the glass away from her.

"For the past few weeks, actually."

"Wow I must be special then," said Yelena sarcastically.

"Well considering who your father is," said Natasha coolly as she raised an eyebrow.

"I want to talk to him," said Yelena softly but adamantly as her suspicion was confirmed.

The Asset knew who she was and that was why they had been looking for her.  
"Are you sure-," began the woman, but Yelena forcefully cut her off.  
"I'll talk to him and only him," she said staring the woman down. She wouldn't talk to anybody else, she just wanted to speak to him.

"Okay," the woman said raising her hands in surrender before she exited the room.  
A few seconds later the door opened again and the Asset walked in with his arms raised to show her he was weaponless as he slowly made his way towards the vacant seat.

Yelena only stared at him as he pulled the chair and sat down opposite of her, she wanted to talk to him but now she was unsure of what she would say to him.

"Natasha said you would only talk to me," he said softly as he looked at her.  
Yelena didn't even nod as she stared him down, her eyes traveling over his tall and threatening figure. She could tell he wasn't trying to come off that way, but it in his nature to do so.

"Yelena?" he asked searching her face hoping to gain some sort of response.

"That is my name," she said flatly and with no emotion.  
"Yelena," he said testing the name out on his lips, "it's a pretty name."  
"It's just a name," she said shrugging, she really didn't think Yelena was a pretty name, it was just her name.  
"My name is James Buchanan Barnes, but uh most people just call me Bucky," he said quietly as he licked his lips nervously.

Yelena gaped at the mention of his name because she recognized it. James Buchanan Barnes was a member of the Howling Commandos and Captain Rogers best friend. He had been killed when he fell off a train trying to detain Dr. Arnim Zola. It was a name she had been taught in her studies, but never would've guess that he was the Asset.

She remembered that he had been experimented on by Zola, probably given a bastardized version of the serum which helped him survive the fall. The Russians must've then found him and turned him into the Winter Soldier.

"You're Captain America's best friend and a former Howling Commando," she said staring at him, "I read about you in my studies."  
"You did?" he asked with genuine surprise.

"Yes," she said folding her hands in her lap, "but they never told me Sergeant Barnes was the same man as my father."

"So you know," he stated blandly as his mouth suddenly became dry.

"Just because you're my father doesn't change my opinion of you," she said hotly, "you're a traitor and you deserve to die for what you've done."

"They forced me to become this," he said defensively as he motioned towards his metal arm, "I never asked for this, for any of this."

"Everything Hydra did to you was for the greater good," she spat out, "it doesn't matter what you want or what you wanted then because sacrifices must be made, you of all people should know that, father," she said with venom lacing her voice.

Bucky only gaped in shock at what she had just said. Obviously having grown up with Hydra she would have such a mentality, but that's not what surprised him. He had had a feeling that she had known he was her father, but this just confirmed his greatest fear.

She only knew the Asset as her father, not the man he used to be. She didn't see Bucky Barnes, she only saw the Winter Soldier and that's the only parent she had known, and for some reason it made Bucky's chest hurt.

"I didn't know about you," he whispered, "if I had-."

"If you did?" she asked incredulously, "and what would you have done if you did? They put your mind through the blender so many times you couldn't even remember your name let alone the fact that you were a person. So what makes you think that knowing would've changed anything?" she said crossing her arms, "even if you did know I don't think it would've been enough for you to slip your leash," she said practically seething at the teeth.

"You're right," he said staring her down from across the table as his nostrils flared, "but I slipped my leash because I figured out that there was more to life than being Hydra's lap dog."

He knew the statement was hurtful, seeing as it had been indirectly directed towards her. But she was right, he had been their dog, obeying every command thrown at him. But at least he figured it out and did indeed slip his leash because being a person is much better than being somebodies dog.  
He just hoped she would be able to see that too.

He watched as her face reddened with anger and her mouth hung open in shock that he had just said that to her, and he couldn't help but feel guilty at the comment that had escaped his mouth.

"Traitors deserve to die," she said as she did her best to recollect herself, "you and I both know that."

"That may be so," he said raising his arms in question, "but who's gonna do it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hydra's pretty much fallen apart this past year, and honestly," he said leaning in closer, "I'd like to see them try," he said before getting up and walking as calmly as he could out the door.

Once he was outside the room he fell against the door and started taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

This was indeed much worse than he originally thought.

He thought he would be able to do this, but he couldn't even really stand to be in the same room with her for more than a few minutes. He felt bad for even thinking it, after all she was his daughter and a parent should be able to handle their own child, right? Nope, not him. He was so out of his element with her and he did not know what to do. The way that she had talked to him had struck something a nerve with him and couldn't handle it. He almost felt ashamed that a mere child could get to him so easily after everything he had been subjected to over the decades.

"You okay, man?" came Sam's voice from where he had been watching unnoticed.  
Bucky nodded his head before pushing himself off the wall, slightly unnerved that someone had seen him like that.  
"I'll be fine," he grumbled trying to walk past the younger man only to have his arm caught.

"She's gonna be okay man, maybe not right now, but eventually," he said assuring him, "these sort of traumas take time and effort, but this is manageable. Some people may never fully heal, but it gets easier with time."

"She isn't like me," said Bucky looking Sam in the eye, "I had a life before Hydra, I had a family and I had friends. I had good memories beneath it all to look to, but she,-"he said motioning towards the room, "she has nothing. This is her life and it's all she's ever known."

"God I think I need a drink," said Bucky as he ran a hand through his long hair.

"I thought you and Steve couldn't get drunk anymore because of the serums?" asked Sam.

Bucky laughed bitterly at the thought, not being able to get drunk was another thing to thank Zola for, "yeah well doesn't mean I can't try."

"Well it's a good thing I can because I'm starting to think I may need a drink," said Sam, "come on, I think I know where we can find some," he said motioning for Bucky to follow.

AN: Comment and tell me what you thought.


	17. Chapter 17

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2015

Bucky followed Sam into what he presumed was Baron Fleischer's office and watched as other man headed straight for the liquor cabinet that was neatly tucked at the back of the room away from the general public's view.

"Found it this when we cleared it out," said Sam as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses, "I'm sure Shield won't mind."

"I won't tell if you won't," said Bucky accepting the glass and pouring himself some much needed alcohol. He knew it was pointless to try to get drunk with the serum that Zola gave him back in the war, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least try.

"I saw what happened in there," said Sam sinking down on the floor and making room so Bucky could join, "not pretty man."  
Bucky huffed in agreement as he downed the burning liquid in a single gulp before pouring himself another.

"You know what they say about first impressions?" asked Bucky, "well I'm pretty sure we both blew it."

"She was spittin fireballs and you know it," said Sam taking a sip, "I honestly wanted to slap the shit outta her."

Bucky only tilted his head back in resignation, "she was right though."  
"About what? You being a lap dog or deserving death?" said Sam pointedly.

"I was their lap dog," he took another sip, "for seventy years I was their lap dog. Obeying their every command without question and always coming back to them even when I had the chance to escape."

"They brainwashed and tortured you," said Sam in his defense, "you had no other option."  
"I killed people," said Bucky, "and I can remember them, every single one."

Sam had nothing to say because there was nothing he could say. Bucky had killed people and he wouldn't be doing him a favor by trying to reassure him at this point. Sometimes it was just better to let people come to term with things on their own.

"For years they forced me to do things," began Banes again, "they tortured me into compliance and made me fulfill their every whim and need. And after finding Steve again I thought that maybe I could start to recover from it all, start to get those lost memories back and live a somewhat normal life," he said laughing, "but the thing about Hydra is that just when you think you're free of them, something always happens just to remind you that you're not."

I'm never gonna be free of them," he said after a long pause, "Not after everything they've done and taken from me."

"No," said Sam in agreement as he poured himself another glass, "not after they took your memories and your daughter."

Sam could only lean his head back against the wall as Bucky let his feelings out. He was beginning to not trust himself with words as he felt the whiskey start to impair his judgment and thought process, the slight buzzed feeling taking over his body.

"But at least my life wasn't always so bad," drawled Bucky, "I grew up with two parents and a little sister, so life was good in that aspect," said Bucky slightly smiling at the memory of his family.

"And I always had Steve, that little punk who was always too dumb to walk away from a fight," he said with a half-hearted smirk as he remembered the day in the alley.  
"I didn't know you had a sister," said Sam with a loopy smile, his eyes starting to look glossy and his pupils starting to dilate. His speech and actions were starting slow down and he was starting to become looser with his words and actions.

"Rebecca?" asked Bucky, "she was my little sister, she uh died a few years ago," said Bucky with a longing look on his face as he remembered Becca.

She had been an old woman when she died surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-children just a few months before the Triskelion. When Bucky had started to regain his memories of her he had looked her up in vain hoping that she was still alive only to be greeted with her obituary. He went to visit her the next day with a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a heartfelt goodbye.

She was his little sister, she wasn't supposed to die before him an old woman. He also visited his parent's grave, Winifred and George Barnes at their family plot in Brooklyn. They all died thinking he was dead, his empty grave next to theirs was proof of that.

"What about you?" asked Bucky, "got any siblings?"  
"Just me, my parents could never deal with another," said Sam, "but I did have my best friend Riley," he said with a longing expression.

"Riley?" asked Bucky curiously.  
"Yeah, we were brothers in every way but blood. When we were old enough we both joined the Air Force and became Para-rescuers," said Sam taking another sip, "we served in the 58th rescue squadron."

"Where is he now?"

"He died during a mission in Afghanistan, got hit by an RPG," he said as he relived the memory, "all I could was watch."  
Bucky sighed as he took another swig of his whiskey, the silence between the two was deafening as they both buried themselves deep in their thoughts.

"I imagine it was a lot like Cap watching you fall from that train," said Sam out of the blue. It was at that point obvious that Sam was drunk because no matter how much they disagreed and teased each other, he would've never said anything like that.

Bucky didn't say anything as his mind was taken back to that day in 1944. When he was first starting to remember that was the memory that always plagued him. The feeling of free falling away from Steve only to be greeted by the bitter cold and the welcoming sleep that came with it. He had been dazed when he woke up but he could still clearly remember the searing pain in his arm and the blood that stained the snow red. Things from there was a blur but he could always feel himself being dragged and the faces of the Russian soldiers who found him.

He could remember being strapped down to a table as the rest of his arm was sawed off and Zola's ugly face smiling at him. When his new arm had been put on he remembered being horrified by it. He tried to kill one of the scientists with it before they sedated him.

When he woke up he was trapped inside a metal container before the ice got to him.

He remained like this for years before they thawed him out in the fifties and wiped his mind continuously until he couldn't remember who he was.

And that's when the Winter Soldier was born, out of ice and forgotten memories.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," said Sam as he observed Bucky's clenched fists and strained breathing.  
"It's fine," Bucky said still breathing deeply before he opened his eyes.  
"You wanna talk about it?" asked Sam, his inner counselor and war veteran starting to show through. It was a nice gesture but now was probably not the best time considering how drunk Sam was.

"No, not now. Maybe one day, but I just can't right now," said Bucky truthfully.  
"Well when you're ready you know where to find me," slurred Sam with a moan as he lowered himself to the ground and started to make himself comfortable.

Bucky shook his head as he reached for the whiskey bottle only to find it completely empty, which had mostly been his fault seeing as he had drunk more than Sam had. He sighed as he set it down next to him and leaned his head back against the wall.

"I saw the tape," interrupted Steve as he burst through the door to find his two friends sitting on the ground with an almost empty whiskey bottle between them.  
"Stevie! Come to join the party? We have an extra bottle if you'd care to join us," said Bucky as he pointed towards the liquor cabinet in the far wall.

"I'm serious Buck," said Steve placing his hands on his hips just like Bucky's ma used to do when she scolded him, "Are you okay?"  
"What? Me? I'm fine, just peachy," said Bucky with a hint of sarcasm.

"No he's not," moaned Sam from his spot on the floor as he turned his head to look over to Steve.  
"Traitor," mumbled Bucky as he kicked Sam in the ribs only to be met with a groan and a certain special finger.  
"Alcohol isn't gonna do you any good, Buck," said Steve as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his shoulders tight and tense as he breathed heavily.

"No, but I think in this case I'm entitled to try," said Bucky raising his glass in Steve's direction.  
"What's the point of alcohol if you can't get drunk?" said Sam from his spot on the floor, his sentence becoming garbled near the end.  
"I'm not joking," said Steve ignoring his inebriated friend on the floor, "I saw the tape so don't just sit here and tell me that you're fine."

"Okay Rogers, you really want to know what I'm thinking?" asked Bucky with raised brows and pursed lips.  
Steve only stared him down waiting for him to spill and Bucky sighed, setting his glass down before looking back at the other man.

"I was experimented on," began Bucky, "I was forcefully injected with something that I never wanted in the first place just so Hydra could have their own super soldier. Then they did things to me, made me forget everything and turned me into a weapon for their own sick purposes. And then decided that they were gonna try to replicate Zola's serum but then realized that they had no way to stabilize it because they no longer had the damned cube, so what did they do? They took my DNA without my knowledge or consent and created a kid with it because they thought she would be like me. But she wasn't Steve, she was just a normal little human baby but apparently that was good enough for Pierce," snarled Bucky, "and now I have a daughter who's as fucked up as I am and every time I look at her it's like a punch to the gut."

Steve remained silent during the entire speech, his face blank as he stared down at Bucky with sad eyes.  
"And if I want to try to drown my sorrows out over a good glass of whiskey then I'm gonna fucking do it," snarled Bucky not even bothering to try and hide his anger as he poured himself another glass.

"Okay," said Steve raising his hands in surrender, "do what you need to, Buck. I ain't gonna stop you."  
"You might want to get him out of here," said Bucky looking down at Sam who was already happily snoring happily on the floor, "he's gonna have a killer headache tomorrow," said Bucky reminiscing about the hangovers he used to have before Zola's serum.

"I'll leave some aspirin by his bedside," said Steve as he attempted to wake Sam up, but found that the younger man was out fast. He managed to eventually wake him partially before wrapping his arm around his shoulder and leading the groggy man out the door.  
"You might want to get some sleep tonight, tomorrow they're gonna have a meeting to discuss what should be done about her," he said staring Bucky in the face, "you might want to be there."

"Will do," said Bucky nodding his head.  
"See you in the morning," said Steve walking out the door, leaving Bucky to his thoughts and whiskey.

Bucky was about to get up and grab another bottle before he decided against it and pushed his empty glass away. Even though he wasn't affected by alcohol anymore because of how fast his cells regenerated, he still knew when he had had enough.

But even though he was done drinking, he wasn't done thinking about Yelena as he sat against the wall in Fleischer's office.

He needed to figure out a way to talk to her without her trying to rip his head off again. He knew it would take time to get through to her, but he had no intention of giving up.

She was his daughter and he'd be damned if he didn't fight for her just like Steve had fought for him. He had had faith in him when Bucky didn't even have faith in himself, had believed him when no one else did.

And that's what he wanted for Yelena.

AN: I know Sam and Bucky aren't exactly best buds, but I've always felt that in some ways they could connect on a deeper level. Both have served in the military and both have varying degrees of PTSD and they've both lost people. Sam is also a counselor and Bucky has obvious issues and I can imagine Sam wanting to help him in that retrospect. Sam is able to recognize now that Bucky is a victim of Hydra and that he's hurting about the situation with Yelena and he's willing to help in any way that he can.

Also in this chapter I brought out a lot of Bucky's feelings of anger and some of that is directed at Steve, but not intentionally. His emotions are kind of all over the road at this point, but It's understandable considering what happened in the last chapter.

Comment and tell me what you thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: This story diverges from the events of Age of Ultron, so technically Civil War never happened. Tony still isn't overly fond of Bucky but he doesn't outright hate him and want him dead. In this story Tony has realized what Hydra did to Bucky was wrong at that none of what he's done in the past was consensual.**

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2015

Bucky awoke the next morning on the floor of Fleischer's office slightly dazed with a killer backache and an empty glass of whiskey. He hadn't bothered to make it to a bed last night after drowning his sorrows into a bottle and he regretted it, but at least he didn't have a hangover like Sam would.

He contemplated staying in his position on the floor but decided against it when he remembered the meeting they would be having soon to discuss what should be done about Yelena, and he was not about to miss out on that.

So he hoisted himself up off the floor and made his way down to the quarters Steve was currently making use of and knocked on the door. He didn't know what time it was or when the meeting would start and he at least wanted to look presentable before the others.

"When's the meeting?" he asked once Steve opened the door, freshly showered and clearly awake and alert.  
"In an hour," said Steve as Bucky made his way into the surprisingly large quarters, which were probably intended for Hydra higher-ups like Fleischer.  
"Can I use the shower? They never cleared out a place for me to crash," said Bucky scratching his head.  
"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks," mumbled Bucky as he made his way into the tiny bathroom and started stripping and turned the water on.

He was quick in getting in and out and put his clothes, that he had been wearing yesterday back on before he walked out with his long hair still dripping to catch a quick bite before they had to go.

"Where's Sam?" asked Bucky as he raided the leftover food in the grocery bags, eventually grabbing an apple and biting into it. He was genuinely concerned for their friend who had passed out quite drunk the previous night.

"Sleeping his hangover off," said Steve, "left a bottle of water and aspirin next to him."  
"He'll need it," snorted Bucky as he ate his apple.  
"How much did you guys drink last night?" asked Steve.  
"I don't know, a lot," guessed Bucky as he shrugged his shoulders.

The rest of the time was spent in quiet before they both made their way to what Shield was using as a conference room.

Bucky was tense as he entered the room to see all the people seated all here to decide his daughters fate. He remained silent as he took his seat next to Steve and Natasha, who gave him a nod of acknowledgment before returning to her conversation with Barton.

"Is Sam coming?" asked Barton as he made contact with Steve.  
"Don't count on it," said Steve as he sent Bucky a small and accusing glare.

"Well if everyone's here then I guess we may begin," said a man who Bucky recognized as one of Shields higher ups. He seemed almost non-threatening with his grey hair and rather plain face, but Bucky knew not to judge whether or not someone was a threat based on their appearance, so he would remain cautious of this unknown man until proven otherwise.

They began to talk about the mission first and what information they had gathered from the people and files. Bucky mostly remained silent during this part as they drabbled on about reports and the Intel they had recovered. He was anxious to get to the part about Yelena, but he remained composed and silent as they talked.

To be honest, he felt a little disconnected from the people seated at the table. He knew them well enough to work with them, but light conversations did not come naturally to him.

Barton was a nice guy from what Bucky knew of him, always willing to help them out and give them his support.

But Natasha Romanov was a completely different story. He knew that she had once been a Red Room Assassin, a Black Widow as they had dubbed their female students. He knew from personal experience that she was a force to be reckoned with, graceful but deadly all at the same time. But she had also proven herself to be a kind and selfless person.

He remembered their fight on the bridge, how she done everything in her power to protect the innocent civilians that he had put in harm's way while trying to complete his mission. And while she had wanted to keep the secret of Yelena from him, he couldn't really stay mad at her for too long.

"And now that we've discussed the mission, I would like to talk about-," the man paused as he picked up a file from the stack and read over it, "Yelena, otherwise known as Project Little Winter."

Bucky perked up in his seat and looked at the man intently as he held his daughters file.

"It says here," he said flipping through the chart, "that she was a failed attempt at recreating the serum given to Sergeant Barnes by Dr. Zola?" he said looking at Bucky for confirmation.

"Originally they wanted to make a clone of James, but they found that they could not stabilize it without the Tesseract, so they turned to a more natural approach," said Natasha breaking the silence.

"So she's your daughter?" asked the man unceremoniously to Bucky.

Bucky frowned at the way the man had addressed him, "Yes, that would be correct."

The man, whose name tag read Foreman, continued to flip through her file simply grazing over the words and pictures. Bucky didn't know why he felt angry as he watched this man read Yelena's file like he wasn't that interested in her all that much, almost like he was skimming through the morning paper just because he was bored.

"Unfortunately in these circumstances it would be best to not think of her that way. You see, Sergeant Barnes, while she may be genetically yours, we must not forget that she is a highly trained Hydra operative," said Foreman as he plopped the file down and rested his hands on the back of his seat, his eyes firmly fixed on Bucky.

Bucky knew what was happening as soon as he started talking. They were gonna take her away from him because they viewed her as a threat, which he knew she was, but he was not about to let that happen.

"It wasn't her choice, she was born into it," said Bucky defensively.

"Exactly," said Foreman standing up straight, "she was raised by them making her by default loyal to them. I'm sorry Mr. Barnes but I see no other alternative."

"You're not taking her away," growled Bucky as he started to stand up only to feel Steve's hand on his arm.

"And what exactly do you intend to do with her?" asked Clint as he watched things play out, sympathetic to Barnes as he himself was a father.

"Well we were thinking that maybe a psychiatric institution would be the best option for her at this point," said Foreman as he placed his hands behind his back.

"Absolutely not," said Bucky firmly as he stared Foreman down from across the table. He had been in her situation once and he knew that that was the last thing they should do for her, and he'd be damned if this man did that to her.

"You can't hold the fact that she was born into it against her," said Natasha finally finding her voice, "I was raised in the Red Room but nobody seems to think I belong in a mental institution. I mean if that were the case then Banner should also be locked away for what he did as the Hulk, and Clint for what he did while under Loki's control, Barnes for what Hydra made him do, the twins for what they did," she said crossing her arms to further her point.

"That's different-," Foreman started to say before the redhead cut him off again.

"And how exactly is it different? None of us are perfect, we've all done things that are questionable and some of us don't exactly have the best track record, but you don't see us getting locked up for it, and she shouldn't be either."

"And what do you suppose should be done about her?" he asked in a questioning tone.

"Let her stay with me," pleaded Bucky, "no one else is better equipped to handle her than me and I think it would be more beneficial to her."

"I agree with James," said Natasha stealing a glance Bucky, "she shouldn't be locked up in some shady psychiatric hospital of your picking, she'd be better off with Bucky and Steve at this point."

"And I know just the place where they can all stay," came a foreign voice as Tony Stark made his way into the room in all his narcissistic glory.

"What? No welcoming committee? I'm so disappointed Capsicle," said Tony winking at Barnes before taking a seat at the table.  
"Mr. Stark," came Foreman's unamused voice, "what an unexpected surprise."

"Foreman!" said Tony looking surprised to see the other man, "how long has it been? New York, right? 2006? Tell me, how's your wife?"  
"Lisa and I are divorced," said Foreman as his face steadily grew red with anger.

Bucky could sense tension and if he had to guess, he would say that Stark was a little too friendly with the guy's wife.

"But that's not what I'd like to discuss," Foreman sounded like he was trying desperately to hide his anger and annoyance at the millionaire.

"Yes, let's discuss the fact that you want to separate a father from his newly found daughter," he said grasping his heart in fake pain, "how awful that you would even consider doing that. I mean I know you're heartless Rob, but who knew you were that heartless?"

Bucky only groaned as he grasped his head in embarrassment and anger towards Stark. Steve only gave him a look that said 'I want to punch Stark too but he may actually be helpful so don't blow it,' look. Bucky only groaned and tried to disappear into his chair the more the millionaire talked.

"By all means," he said raising his hands up in the air, "tell us your plan to fix all of this."

"I'm glad you asked Rob because yes I do have a plan," he said taking his seat, "a plan that won't separate Bucky and Bucky Jr," he said as he crossed his legs and swiveled around to look at Bucky.

Bucky sighed deeply as he rubbed his hand over his face but leaned forward with interest as he listened to the younger man, his situation was desperate and any sort of help would be helpful.

"They can come live at the Tower," he said it as if it was the most ingenious and brilliant plan ever comprised, "it has one of the best security systems in the world and I have many doctors at my disposal. I honestly can't think of a safer and healthier environment for her to be in, and she'd get to stay with Bucky and get the help she needs there."

Bucky leaned forward in his chair as he listened to what Stark had to stay. He liked the idea and he prayed that Foreman would agree to the terms.  
Foreman seemed to be considering it as his brow wrinkled in thought and he bit his lip.

"There would be legal issues," said Foreman as he looked over at Steve and Bucky, "she is at the center of a Federal Investigation, which means that we can't just out right hand her over to you. She would need close monitoring by Shield as well as a legal guardian. And we haven't even discussed her psychological needs."

"What sort of psychological problems are we talking about?" asked Clint with a curious expression, "PTSD? Stockholm?"

"Yelena has displayed symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome as well as Post-traumatic stress disorder," he said looking down at the file, "she needs a psychological evaluation before we make any decision on her living situation."

"Would you agree to release Yelena into our care if she received the proper psychological treatment?" asked Steve.

"Possibly," Said Foreman as he fixed his tie, "but only if it's determined that she will be okay in such an environment."

"So that's a yes?" asked Bucky as he sent Steve a small smile.

"For now I suppose we could make an exception," he said as he gathered the files and placed them into his briefcase, "but this is in no way permanent. She will be evaluated every week by Shield and she will comply in any on-going investigation of the government."

Bucky leaned forward as he listened to the stipulations of her coming to live with him and Steve at the tower in New York. He would be lying if he didn't admit that he was looking forward to moving back to New York, it was his home after all.

It wasn't like he didn't like D.C., but it just wasn't home.

"I expect weekly reports and evaluations from the Therapist and if I see no improvement than I'm afraid we will have no other option," he said as a warning before walking towards the door.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," yelled Tony after the retreating man.

Bucky breathed out a sigh of relief as he slumped against his chair realizing just how much of a close call that was.  
"What are you doing here Tony?" asked Steve as he stood up to face the other man.

"Well after your guys' phone call a few weeks ago I started to become curious as to what you were trying to dig up. So I did some of my own research on the Levine's, but I didn't find much. Then you guys took out that base in D.C. and Shield consulted me to help sort through the files they gathered there, and that's when I found it," he said holding up a copy of the file on Yelena they had found at the other base, "I kinda put two and two together and when I heard you guys were down here I hightailed it down here as fast as I could. And it's a good thing that I did."

"Thank you Tony," said Bucky standing up and making his way over to him, "you have no idea how much this means to me."  
Bucky still kept his distance though because of what he had to Tony's parents all those years ago and he still hadn't forgiven himself for it, and he highly doubted that Tony had either.

"Yeah well you definitely owe me one after this," he said looking pointedly at Bucky.  
Bucky only nodded awkwardly as Tony and Steve started to have a conversation, not sure what he should do in the meantime.  
"Hey," came Natasha's voice from behind him as she grasped his shoulder in a friendly manner, "that worked out better than I thought it would."

"You're telling me," he said as he looked down at the pretty red-headed woman who he had almost killed on several occasions.  
"It's good that she'll be with you and not in some mental ward being treated like a broken doll because I can assure that's the last thing she needs."

"She needs to be shown that there's more to life than what she's been handled," said Natasha pulling him aside, "but most importantly she needs to be treated like a human being, not like some disposable object or toy."

"I know," said Bucky scrubbing a hand over his scruffy face, "I'm just not sure if I'll be the best at this."  
"No one's perfect, all you can do is try to be the best that you can be."  
"And what if the best isn't good enough for her?"  
"Welcome to parenthood, Barnes," she said staring him down, "it's messy and far from perfect but I've been told that it is strangely fulfilling."

Bucky only looked down at her with a strange expression gracing his features before chuckling slightly at the humor in it all.  
If someone had told the Bucky of seventy years ago that he would be talking with a Russian Assassin about how to raise his Hydra made and grown daughter, he would've laughed in their face before asking them just how much they had had to drink because this was far from how he saw himself in the future.

The Bucky of WWII was too focused on making it out of the war with Steve and the Howling Commandos alive to think about his future, and if he had this definitely would not be it.

"Strangely fulfilling," he said with a grunt, "I'll let you know how that turns out."  
"Please do," she said with a curt smile before she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Bucky on his own.  
By that time both Clint and Tony had as well left, leaving only Bucky and Steve alone in the room.

"God, they were gonna take her Stevie," said Bucky slumping down in his chair.  
"I know, but we stopped them," said Steve making his way over, "they're not gonna get their hands on her if I can help it."  
"Sometimes you can be such a sap," said Bucky smiling at his best friend.

"Only when it comes to you," said Steve jokingly.  
"And apparently Yelena too," argued Bucky.  
"Well of course," said Steve, "she was family the moment I found out she was yours."  
"Really?" asked Bucky with a grin.

"Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind," said Steve very seriously as he stared at Bucky.

"Huh?" Bucky asked genuinely confused as he tried to grasp what his friend was saying.  
"Crap, you haven't seen Lilo and Stitch yet," said Steve under his breath more to himself.

"What are you talking about Punk?"  
"Never mind, it's nothing."

Bucky only stared at Steve still confused as ever as to what nonsense Steve was spewing. Sometimes Steve and the others still confused him with their 21st century talk and references that made no sense to him.

"It's just a movie that Natasha made me watch, I'll have to show it to you sometime."  
"A movie that Natasha recommended? I think I might pass," joked Bucky.  
"It actually wasn't that bad," said Steve with a shrug, "It's a Disney movie."

"Like Snow White?" asked Bucky as he remembered the first animated film he had ever seen. He had stood in line at the theater with Steve and two girls that they barely knew to see the movie. It was hard to believe that that had happened over seventy years ago or how far animation had come since then.

"Really? Maybe we'll have to watch it together sometime," said Bucky standing up, "but before we do that I'm gonna hit the sack," he said grabbing his back and grimacing at the back ache.

Steve smirked at him like the little punk that he was, "maybe next time you try to drown yourself in whiskey you'll have the decency to at least make it to a bed."

"Shut up," groaned Bucky over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and towards the room he had had requested set up for him.  
But he decided to take a little detour before he would do that because he felt like he really had to do this and get it over with before he chickened out all completely.

He made his way through the base until he stood in front of the door to Yelena's quarters just staring at the markings on the outside of the door.

Natasha had sent him the number to her room via text late last night and he hadn't gotten around to it until now, and he felt as though he had to do this even though he didn't really know why.

He carefully reached down and turned the knob and entered into the small quarters that had belonged to Yelena since she had arrived here in 2005 and entered.

The room in itself was clean and sterile, reminding Bucky of the bunkers that he had been forced to stay in in Europe during the war. The only thing unkempt about it was the small unmade cot that sat against the far wall.  
The room was rather bland and boring, not like the room of a teenage girl.

Bucky remembered how his sister's room was always messy, with stockings and clothes thrown about and all the latest jazz albums sitting around. He smiled as he remembered how his Ma would yell at her to clean it up and that if she didn't she would trip and break her neck, which Becca would only roll her eyes at before she would set to work cleaning up the hazardous place she called her room.

He found himself missing the sound of his Ma yelling at them, what he wouldn't give just to hear it one last time.

In that moment he would have done anything just to be with his family again, but life was cruel and they had all died probably wishing that they could see him one last time, they never knew all those years what really happened to him.

It was just him and Yelena, and of course the many nieces and nephews he had never bothered to meet.

The walls were white and the floors were concrete and the only furniture in there was a cot, a dresser, and a hamper.

Only the essentials were present and barely anything else.

There were no windows so it made the room dark with only the low lighting and there were no type of decorations or pictures, there wasn't even anything on the metal box that served as a dresser.

Bucky walked further in hoping to find something of hers in there that was personal so he could at least know assure himself that she was an individual. He knew it was silly to ever think something like that, but he needed to know how much Hydra had actually taken from her.

He opened the closet to be greeted with a similar sight of neatness and order with how she had arranged her clothes and shoes.

There were only a few shirts hanging up that all looked to be the same and only a few pairs of shoes that were bland and practical. There was also a little mirror which he assumed she used to get ready in the morning and a comb sitting neatly on the shelf. He was although surprised to see something that looked like a blue dress hiding behind the mirror, and upon further inspection did he realize that it was indeed a blue dress. He held it out in front of him as he looked over the knee length dark blue dress that reminded him of a dress Becca had once owned.

He wondered why she owned such a garment when everything else in her room was bland and sterile, but he didn't dwell on it as he refolded it and stuck it back behind the mirror.  
He sighed heavily as he sat down on her bed and looked around yet again at his daughter's room, slightly appalled that it was even hers to begin with.

He was about to get up after a few minutes when something under her pillow caught his eye. He was surprised to find that it was a black and white picture of him that had been hiding under it.

He didn't remember when it had been taken, but it must've been sometime before he shipped out to the Italian front considering the fact that he was in full dress uniform at the time it was taken. He was looking away from the camera but his face was clearly still visible. He also realized that it was the same picture that had been in his file, the little black and white Polaroid that had been clipped at the bottom under the picture of him in cryo stasis.

He wondered where she got it and why she even had it in the first place.

Did somebody give it to her or did she find it? Was she given access to his file? But that didn't make any sense considering that she hadn't known that the Asset and James Buchanan Barnes were the same person, so just exactly where did she get it from?

He decided that he would have plenty of time to ask her that in the foreseeable future, so he pocketed the little picture in his coat and took one last look around at her room before he walked out and closed the door and locked it.

He couldn't see anything of value in there that would merit her saving and if she did she must have hidden it well.

He would just have to ask her before they left for New York, which would be later that day seeing as everything of importance was being packed up and shipped back to Headquarters for further examination and Stark was anxious to get back for whatever reason.

He better go and visit her and see how she was doing even though she would probably rip his head off just like yesterday, but he had to try. He knew what she was like now and he was prepared for whatever she was going to spit at him again, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna go runnin with his tail between his legs like he previously done.

He also felt as though he owed her some sort of explanation for what was going on, she needed to know that she was going to be ok even if she felt like she wasn't going to be. All this time she must've thought that Shield was going to take her away and lock her up, but that wasn't going to happen.

He wasn't ever going to let that happen.

 **AN: As I have stated in this chapter, there will be a few legal and psychological issues that will need to be addressed in the near future.**

 **A) Legal guardian/custody: As for right now, Yelena is technically being held in Shields custody but that will not always be the case. Eventually they're going to have to figure out who's going to get custody of Yelena. There's going to be a visit from Shield every week to evaluate her and report back to Foreman, who will be following her progress.**

 **B) Stockholm/PTSD: Obviously Yelena's got mental issues that will need to be addressed by a professional. She's loyal to Hydra and she has been abused for years to the point where she sees it as normal. She'll need to learn how to have healthy relationships with people, etc.**

 **C) Sofia: I didn't mention Sofia in this chapter because I was focusing it more on Yelena, but rest assure I'm not done with her character yet. They're going to have to figure out what to do about her and her needs.**


	19. Chapter 19

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2015

"You sure you want to watch in on this?" asked Steve as they made their way towards the conference room. They were on the way to watch in on Baron Fleischer's interrogation because Bucky had insisted that they go, and Steve had reluctantly agreed to accompany him.  
Bucky nodded, "I have to do this Stevie."

Steve frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets. He knew this was something that Bucky wasn't gonna let go and he understood that it was something he needed to do. But Steve just wished that he would slow down a bit instead of chasing down this mess because he knew that his friend was hurting and the only thing he would gain from this was more hurt. But he understood his friends need to know.

He needed to know what all they did in this sick conquest to recreate the serum, and why they would do this to Yelena and what they hoped to gain. And it wasn't just Bucky that had to know, it was Steve too. This was his best friend's daughter and that by default made her family and there wasn't anything Steve wouldn't do for family.

"Okay," Steve said softly as he grasped his friends shoulder, smiling softly to show his support.  
Baron Fleischer was by definition an asshole. The way he held himself and even the way he looked just made Steve want to deliver a swift punch to his pretty little face. His hair was blond and still somehow perfectly styled and his blue eyes glared defiantly at them as they entered.

"Would you look at what the cat dragged in," his smooth voice hinted a slight eastern European accent and was full of sarcasm as he took in the two men's appearance, "Captain America and the Winter Soldier."  
"Hello Fleischer," said Steve darkly as he pulled out a chair and swiftly took his seat, Bucky doing the same as well with a deadly glare on his face.

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Rogers, but I'm afraid that under these circumstances it's not," said Fleischer smiling at him sarcastically apologetic.

"Hmmm," said Steve staring at him before opening the file placed before him.  
"And look who you brought with you," said Fleischer looking over at Bucky and then back at Steve, "the Asset himself, except you don't call yourself the Asset anymore do you?" he said directing his question to Bucky.

"My names Bucky," he said surprisingly calm considering the situation.  
"No it's not," Fleischer's eyes widened as he stared Bucky down, "the Asset doesn't have a name."

Bucky's nostrils flared and the vein in his neck started throbbing, his hands clenched tightly as he breathed deep trying to calm himself down. He obviously did not appreciate being told he wasn't even a person by this asshole.

"I'm not him anymore."  
"Really?" asked Fleischer in mock surprise, "so you're just going to shake off your training and pretend to be a person when you know you're nothing but a weapon?"

Steve's eyes shot to Bucky and silently communicated with him telling him not to fall prey to this man's words. But he knew Bucky wasn't gonna let someone as petty as this Baron get under his skin with asinine comments like that.

"That's enough," said Steve reviewing the file, "now we're going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them truthfully," said Steve threateningly as he stared the other man down, daring him to challenge his authority.

The Baron said nothing as he clasped his hands in his lap, not daring to challenge the older man.

"Wise decision, now let's get down to business," said Steve closing the file and sliding forward to rest on his arms, "tell us about Yelena."

"Lena? What do you want to know about her?" he said as he traced his fingers over the table.  
"How about everything," said Bucky as he leaned forward.

"She was a failed experiment to recreate your serum," said Fleischer looking at Bucky with a nonchalant expression.  
"We are already know that," growled Bucky, "I want to know what you did to her."  
"Personally?" asked the Baron.

Bucky nodded, his eyes growing dangerously dark.

"Well if you insist," said Fleischer sadistically as a wide smile crossed his lips.

"When Lena first came here, she was so young and innocent," said Fleischer as his eyes traveled away, "she always had a stuffed bear with her and she would drag it around everywhere she went, and I thought it was cute. She was such a beautiful little girl with her big brown eyes and her stuffed bear and I knew that wouldn't last for long," he said as a sick smile crossed his lips.

Bucky's breathing started to become labored and his metal fist was so tightly grasping the leg of the table that it left finger indents. His mouth was pulled back into a snarl and his eyes dared this man to continue.

"She was so innocent and naive," said Fleischer leaning in, "it was fun tearing her down."

Steve bit the inside of his cheek nervously as he looked over to Bucky, who was trying his best to remain calm and collected as he listened to all the Baron had to say.

"At first she was disobedient," said Fleischer, "but finally we managed to beat her into submission. It was hard but not impossible," he said looking back up at Bucky, "and then we began to train her, just like the girls in the Red Room."

Bucky breathed in deeply as he remembered what sort of training those girls had been forced to go through and he knew it was nothing good. It was horrible and it hurt him to think of Yelena having to go through such a program.

"And she was good," said the Baron with a hint of pride lacing his voice, "she was better than any of the other girls who were admitted into the program."

"You mean Isabel and Anna," said Steve darkly as he remembered reading the file on both of the girls. His blood had boiled in anger when he found out what had happened to them and he had promised himself that he would avenge them. Their voices deserved to be heard even if the Baron had silenced them.

"They failed," he said with a simple shrug of his shoulders, a sign that he didn't care about what had happened to those girls, "and failure is unacceptable."

"So you killed them?" asked Bucky, "just because they didn't measure up to your standards?"

The Baron cocked his head to the side, "they were expendable."

Bucky clenched his metal fist tightly as he imagined what it would feel like to wrap his hands around his throat and squeeze the life out of him. These girls had been abused and murdered at Fleischer's hand and he acted like it had been nothing more than business.

"And I suppose Yelena is expendable too?" he asked with red hot anger.

"Oh no," said the Baron with a sickening smile, "not my little Lena. No she's special."

"Special?" asked Steve with morbid curiosity, his gaze flickering to Bucky to assess his reaction to the hostile statement.

"Ooh," he said leaning back in his chair and smiling maniacally at the duo, "there are multiple ways to tear a little girl down, especially one as pretty as Yelena."

A sick feeling slowly crept into Bucky's stomach at the words and he had no doubt as to what the Baron was trying to tell him. He calmed his urge to vomit, his blue eyes filling with unprecedented rage as he flew out of his chair and over to the smug blond opposite of him. He wasted no time in grabbing the Baron by the throat and bashing his scrawny ass into the nearest wall, his metal fingers tightening as he slowly squeezed the life out of him.

He felt Steve's strong arms grasp around his arms and pull him back as he tried to kill the man in front of him.

"Buck!" cried Steve, "Calm down!"  
Steve finally managed to pry Bucky off of Fleischer and held him back from the wheezing and coughing man.

"Y-you need to contain him!" screamed the Baron as he struggled to breathe, his fingers pointed in accusation at the brunette, "he could've killed me!"

Steve swiftly turned around and suckered punched the Baron square in the face hard enough to hear the distinct sound of bone breaking. The Baron's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backward onto the floor as blood started to pour freely down his face and shirt.

A few agents came running into the room at the sound, but stopped short when they saw the crumpled form of the Baron on the floor.

"Clean this shit up," said Steve to the agents before grabbing a shaking Bucky by the arm and forcing him out the door and into the hallway.

"Hey," said Steve pushing him against the wall as soon as they were out of the room, "calm down!"  
"Did you hear what he said? What he did- he did to-," gasped out Bucky, finding himself to talk clearly because of his anger.

"I heard him," said Steve as he attempted to reign in his emotions, "I heard what he said."  
"He did that-," Bucky cried out as he banged his head against the wall, "to Yelena."

Steve only shook his head, his eyes looking as lost as he looked at Bucky.  
Bucky slid down the wall and came to a sitting position and put his head to his knees in an effort to calm his nerves and to catch his breath.

"He did that to my daughter, Stevie," said Bucky staring up at him, his eyes looking so lost, "he did that to her, and I couldn't stop it."

"No, no don't say that," said Steve sternly, "this isn't your fault Buck, you didn't even know about her. Don't blame yourself for something you didn't even know about, you're not at fault here."

"It's him," growled Bucky, "him, Pierce, Zola, Levine, all of Hydra," he said closing his eyes, "this is all their fault. They think they can do anything and get away with it. We're never gonna be free of them," he said as he sucked in a deep breath, "and neither will Yelena."

"No," said Steve taking his seat next to him, "I'm afraid we'll never be free of them. But I'm still gonna fight because while we may never free of them we can at least make sure that other people are," he said as he referenced the poor girls who would never be free of Hydra because they were dead. It was people like that he was fighting for; innocent people who were being exploited.

"Yelena's a strong girl," began Steve, "and while this will always be one aspect of her life, there's still so much out there for her. And it's our job to make sure she has the best future despite the circumstances."

"And if she's anything like her father then she'll pull through because she's a Barnes," said Steve grasping his shoulder, "and the Barnes family are all a bunch of stubborn mules."

Bucky snorted at Steve's words, "you sure bout that Punk? I'm pretty sure it's the Rogers that are all a bunch of stubborn mules."

"Like when you were adamant to sign up for the Army and you kept lying on the damn form," laughed Bucky, "said you were from Ohio."

Steve snorted as Bucky chuckled at the memory, his face looking genuinely happy as his mind took him back seventy years before they had gotten involved with Hydra.

Those were happier times for the both of them and while they could never go back, they could at least remember.

Bucky stopped smiling and his face went serious, "I should go talk to Yelena."  
Steve paused and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "should I come with?"  
Bucky frowned, "yeah, I mean if you want to-,"  
"Okay."  
"You'll come?"  
"Of course I'll come," said Steve standing up, "after all don't you think it's time I met my best friends daughter?"

Bucky smiled sadly, "I suppose so."  
Bucky pulled himself to his feet and they both set off towards the room where Shield had put Yelena for the night. Steve hadn't met Yelena properly yet and he was a bit apprehensive to do so. He had just watched her talk with Bucky and it hadn't been pretty considering that the other man had gone and tried to get drunk.

He had been so flabbergasted watching the whole scene that all he could do was watch Bucky as he ran out of the room and into the arms of whiskey. But he had to do this, for Bucky because he knew that Bucky would do the same for him if it were him in this situation.

He just hoped things would be better off this round.

 **AN:**

 **Sofia: I know a few of you are wondering what will happen to Sofia and I promise I have not forgotten her! In fact this next chapter will largely evolve around her and her story as well as adding a different perspective to the story. She deserves to have people who care about her like Yelena and while she isn't as messed up as Yelena is, she obviously has problems too.**

 **Fleischer: This chapter was pretty interesting to write because I got to mess around with Fleischer's character even more and show you just how psycho he really is. He enjoys tormenting people and he really likes to play off of peoples emotions and manipulate them. I also really really enjoyed having Bucky try to kill him and then Steve knocking him out.**

 **Comment and tell me what you thought!**


	20. Chapter 20

New Mexico

Hydra Base

2015

Tony Stark sighed as he set his mug of coffee and down and stared at the files in front of him, his mind working furiously to try and make sense of everything that was in them. He had volunteered to help sort through the hundreds of files that had been found in this very base just a few days ago and it was proving to be a very tedious task.

Of course, it was always hard to go through any of Hydra's files, but these documents contained some of the most horrifying and gut-wrenching information he had ever read through, and there wasn't much that could grab at his heart like this did.

Hydra had kidnapped little girls and had tortured and abused them so that they could mold them into their own sick image. It was similar to the Red Room, in fact, the Baron's own father had worked for the program before it was shut down.

That was most likely where had developed his obsession with the Academy in the first place, by his own father who had helped oversee the operation during the Cold War.

"Like father like son," mumbled Tony in disgust as he shoved Fleischer's file into the folder on the desk.

He took another sip as he pulled up the files on each of the girls that had ever been admitted to Fleischer's program, which only amounted to four separate files. Each one displayed the blank faces of the girls, their despondent expressions making them look much older than they really were.

He had already read through Anna's and Isabel's and had cross-referenced them with missing person's files from around the time they had been admitted, and was relieved to find two files from two different counties in the state of New Mexico.

He had found Isabel's parents and had alerted Shield so that they could inform the family that their daughter, who had been missing for over ten years at that point, was dead.

It was hard to do, but at least her family would finally get the closure they deserved after all these years. But while Isabel had had a family that had missed her, Anna had no one to contact. She had been living in a children's home when she had been abducted and had become nothing more than file locked away in a filing cabinet in some police station.

And now both of them were dead and it weighed heavily on Tony.

He shook his head as he exited out of Anna's and Isabel's files and pulled up Yelena's file, which had an abundance of more information than any of the other girls. Which was not surprising considering she was the product of Hydra's many experiments to replicate the serum.

Tony had read all of Zola's files on what he had done to Bucky, starting from when the Sergeant had been captured in 1943 and experimented on until Zola had physically died in 1972. He had read how Zola had managed to create his own version of the serum and how he had stabilized it using the Tesseract before giving it to Bucky just before the Captain had rescued him and the rest of the 107th.

The notes that Zola had written in that bunker in Azzano would be the direct cause for Yelena's birth, but would not be put into effect for decades. Zola had wanted to know if Barnes's gamete cells had been affected by his serum, but had never gotten around to actually experimenting with the concept. In fact, it was really nothing more than a footnote in the Swiss doctor's notes that expressed nothing more than curiosity.

It would be years before Pierce would put Zola's idea to use and impregnate a woman with the Sergeants offspring, but not without first trying to make a clone, which failed spectacularly seeing as the cloned embryo's never made it past the second trimester before spontaneously aborting. It was the first time a human clone had been attempted, and as scientifically advanced as Hydra was, even they couldn't create on healthy enough to live very long.

But Yelena didn't have the serum, proving that not every cell in the Sergeants body had been altered, much to everybody's surprise. Tony wondered if Erskine's formula had altered Steve's gamete cells, but something told him he wouldn't be finding that out anytime soon.

Tony read through the rest of Yelena's file before setting it aside, his attention going towards the last file waiting to be viewed.

Sofia was the youngest of the girls that had been admitted into the program, and she was one of the only ones left. At the tender of age of four, Sofia had been kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to Hydra.

She had no living relatives and nowhere to go, which meant Shield would have to figure something out for her like they had for Yelena.

Tony stared up at the picture of the dark haired girl, his mind reeling as he tried to figure out what they were going to do with her. It wasn't fair that Yelena was getting more attention than this girl, who had been just as much a victim as she had.

Sofia had been Hydra's puppet for years and she had been subjected to the same abusive training as Yelena, but at the same time, Sofia was different than the older girl. Sofia was not as advanced in her training as Yelena was and judging from the Baron's notes, he was less than pleased with her progress. It was probably a good thing Sheild had liberated them when they did, or else something worst might've happened to her.

"Hey," came Natasha's smooth voice from the door as placed her hands on her hips, "you looking through the girl's files?"

"Trying too," said Tony; not bothering to look at her or acknowledge her inquisitive gaze.

Natasha stalked into the room and came to stop in front of the computer, her eyes skimming over the file intently as she placed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"How's Barnes?" asked Tony with only mild concern. It was obvious that Romanoff wasn't going to leave him alone, so he might as well indulge her curiosity.

"How do you think he is?" asked the redhead with a raised eyebrow.

"I heard he and Wilson drank all of the Baron's personal stash of whiskey last night," said Tony with a shake of his head, "if he wasn't enhanced he would've given himself alcohol poisoning."

"Well then it's a good thing he's enhanced."

Tony scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked back to the computer before exiting out of Sofia's file and turned to look back up at a curious Natasha. He could sense that she wanted to ask him something from the look on her stoic face.

"What is it Romanoff?" he asked, "I can tell you didn't just come here to admire my good looks, or did you?" he asked with a grin.

"Why are you helping Barnes?" she asked as she ignored his egotistical remark, "what are you hoping to gain?"

"Nothing," he said truthfully, "I'm just trying to help him out."

"A few months ago you wanted him locked up," pointed out Natasha with raised eyebrows, "now you're letting him move in?"

Tony rolled his eyes and scoffed at the redhead, "did you just come here to interrogate me? I promised they could have a floor in the tower and I mean it."

"He killed your parents," said Natasha pointedly, "surely that warrants some resentment."

"So that's what this is about?" asked Tony sarcastically as he refilled his cup with more coffee, "you think because Hydra forced him to kill my parents that I have some ulterior motive for letting him and his daughter come live in the tower?"

"I'm just trying to understand," she said as she handed him the creamer, "Barnes is a good person and I don't want to see him get any more hurt than he already is."

"Is that why you wanted to hide Yelena from him?" said Tony truthfully with raised eyebrows as he waited for her to reply.

"When I found out about Yelena I did want to tell him," began Natasha, "but I also didn't feel that he was emotionally stable enough to handle it. Bucky isn't the same man he was seventy years ago and for a time there he was struggling to hold onto his sanity. I thought the news that he was a father could wait until his mental state was in a better place," said Natasha as she looked down at her shoes, "I did what I thought was best."

"Don't tell Capsicle or Bucky bear this, but I think you were right to want to temporarily keep it from him."

"No," said Natasha with a small shake of her head, "I was wrong to do so. And if anything, him knowing about Yelena has helped him."

"How so?"

"Haven't you seen him lately?" pressed Natasha, "ever since he found out about her he's been-."

"More lively?" interrupted Tony.

"Yes," said Natasha softly.

Tony said nothing as he poured the rest of his cold coffee down the sink and swept a hand through his messy hair. He hadn't slept since flying out and it was starting to show.

"So what do you think is going to happen to Sofia?" said Natasha, breaking the uneasy silence between them.

"I don't know," said Tony with a slight shrug, "I was hoping you could tell me."

"I've already talked to her," admitted Natasha with a sigh, "she's not as bad as Yelena, but she does need help."

"What kind of help?"

"Rehabilitation mostly," she said, "her combat training isn't as advanced as Yelena's and she doesn't even know how to use a gun very well."

"What about her mental state?" asked Tony as he tried to come up with a plan for helping the girl.

"Stockholm syndrome and mild PTSD," said Natasha, "with Therapy I'm sure she'll be fine eventually."

"So what? We let her stay in the tower?" asked Tony.

"I think she should stay with Yelena for the time being," said Nat after a few moments of careful consideration, "once she's started to heal and adjust, then we can go from there."

"I'm fine with that," said Tony, "just don't expect my tower to become an orphanage or anything like that," warned Tony.

"Tony's Home for Wayward Youth," said Natasha with a sly grin, "I kinda like it."

"That's a terrible idea," said Tony with a shudder, "I already give to charity enough as it is."

Natasha laughed, "You sure you don't do that just for the tax breaks?"

"Like I need tax breaks," scoffed Tony with a shake of his head, "I give to charity because I choose too, not because I want tax benefits."

"You're a good person Tony," said Natasha as she pushed herself away from the edge of the counter and made her way over to the door before stopping and turning around to face him, "I know this isn't easy for you, but thank you."

Tony pursed his lips and dipped his head down as Natasha made her way out of the room and into the adjacent hallway. He knew he was doing a good thing by letting Bucky and Yelena stay at the tower, but at the same time, he felt a looming sense of dread and regret bubble inside of him.

He was actually going to let his mother's killer come live at the tower, and he knew that this would force him to face the reality of his parent's demise at the hands of Hydra.

He would be nice to Bucky, that, of course, was a given, but it wasn't like he was going to sit in a circle with him and sing Kumbaya like they were best friends. He would be polite to the Sergeant, but that was all.

He would do nothing more, and he would do nothing less.

 **AN: I'm back! I had to take a little break from writing because which I have to do sometimes because writing for an audience can be stressful. But good news! The next chapter is almost done and It will be posted after I finish it and edit it, which shouldn't take that long.**

 **Sofia: I am currently debating with myself on what should be done about Sofia. I originally didn't plan on her becoming a regular in the story but a few of you have expressed your curiosity for her character so I have decided to go a little bit more in depth with her. I want her to have a parent figure in her life and I can't decide if it should be Tony or Steve. Any opinions?**

 **Comment and tell me what you think!**


	21. Chapter 21

Bucky was his best friend and they had been through a lot together over the course of their violently long lives, whether it was fighting off bullies in the streets of Brooklyn or blowing Europe up trying to get to Schmidt.

They were more than best friends, they were brothers in all ways but blood and they would always be there for the other in their time of need, and right now Bucky needed him. He didn't say it like the stubborn mule he was, but Steve just knew. He could see it as plain as day even if the words were not spoken out loud. Bucky needed him, now maybe more than ever.

Steve kept a watchful and observant eye on Bucky as he followed him into the room to see Yelena stiffly sitting at the table as she stared down at her untouched plate of food. She raised her head to stare at them blankly as they both came to stand in front of her. Her thick, long brown hair hung loose and framed her inquisitive almond shaped brown eyes. She didn't look like Bucky all that much, except for the small but discernible cleft in her chin which was barely noticeable and Steve could see that they had the same nose.

She was rather petite all around, and if Steve had to guess she was about the height he was before the serum if not smaller. She seemed to have not one ounce of fat on her, instead, she was lean and muscular which would be attributed to the training she endured in Hydra's hands.

She was a strikingly beautiful young woman and Steve's heart panged at the sight of her. She was so young and innocent looking, except for her eyes. Her eyes spoke an entirely different story than the rest of her, the abuse she was forced to endure showing through. They looked hard and worn down, much like the eyes of a soldier who had seen more than anyone should ever have too.

It made Steve's blood boil because she shouldn't be wearing those eyes. She was just a child and no child should ever have to bear the weight that those eyes held. Just what had Hydra done to her?

"Hello Yelena," said Bucky in a calm and soft voice. Steve recognized that tone as being the one Bucky used on scared children during the war, which there was always an abundance of.

He remembered a small village in Italy that had been practically obliterated by the Allied bombings during the Campaign for Italy and all the children who had been left orphaned. Bucky, Dugan, Dernier, and a few other men from the 107th had set about repairing some of the toys as best they could. Bucky had also helped make paper boats for some of the children who no longer had any toys and he would talk to them in that very same manner as he carefully folded the paper into the desired shape.

The memory was fleeting, but it brought back feelings of nostalgia that Steve hadn't realized were there. It was funny how just the smallest of actions could bring back a memory such as that, but Steve wasn't complaining.

Yelena remained silent as she stared at him blankly before moving her eyes over to Steve. She looked at the two of them, assessing them and whether or not she was in a safe situation or not. She was alert as her eyes darted between the two men and Steve could see her posture become rigid with caution.

"Yelena," said Bucky as stepped closer to the Captain, "This is Steve."  
"I know," she blankly said staring at Steve with a solid blank expression.

Steve felt uncomfortable under her hard gaze and shifted his weight awkwardly as he turned to look at Bucky who seemed just as lost as him with his words.  
Steve knew that Bucky was really trying to keep himself together, and he was impressed at the way he was handling the situation but at the same time he could sense that there was a lot of tension between the two.  
"It's uh nice to meet you," said Steve politely with a smile to her. She only continued to glare at him, not bothering to show courtesy or politeness to him.

"I assume you are here to tell me what will be done with me," she said turning to look back at Bucky with an unwavering gaze.  
"Yes," said Bucky scratching his head, "we have talked it over and we've decided that you'll stay with me and Steve in New York."

Yelena a surprised look crossed her face before it was replaced with her legendary cold and emotionless face. She was trying not to show emotion because to her it was a weakness, and there was no room for weakness in Hydra.  
"Why New York?" she asked crossing her arms.  
"Tony Stark offered to let us come live in the tower there," said Bucky.  
"Tony Stark?" she asked, her right eyebrow raised, "the Ironman?"  
"Yeah, unless you know any others who own a metal suit with that name," said Steve.

Yelena stared down in her lap weighing the importance of their words.  
"Why would he do that?" she asked.  
"I don't know," said Steve looking at Bucky, "I guess you'll have to ask him that."  
Yelena considered his words quietly, "when do we leave?"

"Tonight," said Bucky staring down at her, his eyes softening upon seeing her trying to hide being distraught. He too was distraught, but Bucky had always had a way of hiding how he really felt and if you didn't know him like Steve did, then you could easily fall for the act.  
She simply nodded and cast her eyes downward and it made Steve's chest hurt. In that moment she looked so scared and confused, and why shouldn't she?

Everything about her life was changing and all she could was sit silently as her life was completely torn up from the roots.  
"Is there anything you wish to take with you?" asked Bucky softly.  
Yelena perked up and looked like she was trying to decide if there was anything worth taking.  
"I guess there are a few things," she said after careful consideration.

"Okay," said Bucky as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked over at Steve with a desperate expression. Even Bucky could tell their conversation wasn't going anywhere, but he was at least putting forth some effort to try and talk to the girl. But he was so out of his element and Yelena was at least being somewhat polite, but at the same time she was reserved and emotionless. And Steve felt like he was sandwiched between the two and their failed communication attempts.

"What will happen to Baron Fleischer?" asked Yelena breaking the silence and interrupting Steve's thoughts. He could visibly see Bucky beside him clenching his fists tightly and his lips drawn in an angry scowl.

"He's going to be tried in a court of law," said Steve, beating Bucky to the punch, "and then he will convicted and sent to a Federal Prison."  
Yelena frowned, "what are the charges?"

"Espionage, treason, criminal intent, exploitation of a minor," said Steve listing off only a few from the list. There was a lot more to the list including sexual assault and murder, but Steve didn't dare mention that, "and a few other things."

"What you consider crimes, Hydra sees as necessities," said Yelena, coming to Fleischer's defense, "he only did what needed to be done for the greater good."

Steve's heart sank and Bucky's shoulders sagged at her word. He had actually dared to hope that they would have a civilized conversation without her defending the very people who had abused her for years.

"The greater good?" asked Bucky, "Hydra isn't doing all this for the greater good," he said as he closed in on her.  
He looked positively angry, but not at her. He was angry about the fact that she had been so brainwashed that she couldn't recognize the abuse she had suffered at their hands.

"Hydra doesn't care about anything but their own sick agenda and their willing to use anything and everyone to achieve that. They don't care what happens to you or anyone else," he said motioning to her, "they only used you and when you weren't going to be of use anymore they would've disposed of you and gotten someone else," he said gritting his teeth.

"He's right," said Steve coming forward, "Hydra only used you like they used him," he said looking at Bucky, "but they can't do that to you anymore, Yelena. They have no power here, you're free of them and you no longer have to listen or do as they say."

"You're words are lies," hissed Yelena, "I owe my existence to Hydra, without them I would not exist and you know that."  
"We're not denying your existence," said Bucky shaking his head. Hydra did indeed create her and he could not deny that. But he also could not deny that he was angry that Hydra had even done it in the first place without his knowledge. But he wasn't about to deny her existence and if given the option, he would've let Hydra do it anyways. "But just because they created you doesn't make them good people. Yes they created you, but they didn't do it because they cared about you."

"Oh and I supposed you do?" she asked challenging him but stopped suddenly when she saw the hard look on his face.  
"Yes," said Bucky defiantly, "I do care about you," he said pausing to take a deep breath, "I didn't know about you and if I had I don't know what I would've done, but I know now," he took another deep breath," And to me it doesn't matter how you were brought into this world, I'm just sorry that I didn't do anything to get you out of there."

Yelena paused as she studied the man in front of her and weighed the meaning of his words. She was surprised because she did not expect such a deep and meaningful response from someone let alone the Winter Soldier himself and Yelena knew that he was not lying. He honestly did care about her and that scared her more than anything.

Nobody had ever cared about her like that, and she was confused as to how she should deal with that.  
"You," she said looking him in the eye, "care about me?"  
He didn't look away as he nodded, "more than Hydra ever could."

Yelena's eyes darted over to Steve looking confused and lost all at the same time, he could tell this was probably the first time someone had told her that and really meant it.

"Even without the serum?"  
Yelena had grown up hearing that she was a failure because she was just normal. She didn't have any of Bucky's serum because she was the product of a failed experiment, so why would he care when no one else would?

Bucky looked so lost at the statement because she shouldn't even have to ask that question, but of course Hydra would tell her that she was failure, and why would anyone care about a failure? His own daughter thought so little of herself simply because Hydra had told her too, but she couldn't see that that did not matter to him at all. She could've be bald and green and he still would've come for her, not because he was obligated too, but because he didn't want another person to suffer at their hands. Especially if that someone was his daughter.

"Even without the serum," said Bucky with a serious face.  
"But," she paused, "why?"  
"Yelena," he said taking a tremendously deep breath, "I don't care whether or not you inherited the serum and I know for a fact that no one else is going to care about that either."

Yelena looked down at the table and bit her tongue in deep thought as she tried to grasp the meaning of his words, which only seemed to confuse her even more than she already was.

"I should go pack," she said as she sat up straighter. She was trying to change the topic of the conversation because she felt vulnerable, and it was quite understandable considering the circumstances.  
"I'll come with you," said Bucky standing up.

She simply nodded as she stood up and walked over to him as he held the door open for her.

Steve was going to follow, but he felt like maybe this was supposed to be a private moment between the two, so he stayed back and watched them leave.  
He sighed heavily as he rubbed a hand across his face and let out a scowl. It was quite obvious that Yelena was trying her hardest to remain indifferent, but he could see the confusion and conflict that was raging inside of her. Bucky's words had obviously affected her in some way, but Steve couldn't tell if it had been in a good way or a bad way.

Either way, Steve knew it was imperative that Bucky proceed with caution because he had a feeling that if he didn't, Yelena would become even more closed off than before.

But at least she knew that there were people out there who cared for her and who would fight for her.

Even if she didn't know it.


	22. Chapter 22

New Mexico  
2015

Yelena knew there wasn't much she was going to want out of her room, but she still decided to go and at least get her clothes and the picture that she always had hiding under her pillow. She knew it was silly, having that picture of him in her room. She guessed it was because she was only a little girl when she had found out he was her father and had unrealistic expectations and desires. She had always been drawn to the Asset ever since she first saw him as a girl all those years ago in D.C., even before she knew of her connection to him.

The man who had no name and slept in a coffin of ice and had an arm made entirely of metal was always a topic of fascination for her. But then she saw what Pierce had done to him, and it scared her more than anything in the world. The events that happened in that room would haunt her dreams and would make her wake up in the middle of the night sweating and crying as the sound of his screams echoed through her head.

But she kept silent about it because she knew that what she had witnessed was not meant for her eyes. But the older she got the more she saw the importance of what was being done to him, and she no longer argued with it. In the words of Director Pierce, he was a weapon and could never be thought of as a man, and she agreed.

She used to look up to him, everything he had accomplished for Hydra and always had a longing to be like him. She knew in her mind that he was the best, and that was something she had always aspired to be. She wanted to be the best so she could have the satisfaction of being like him and so that she could gain Fleischer's approval. He had always expected the best from her and she didn't want to disappoint him like Anna and Isabel had.

But deep down, not even she could deny that she craved the attention and approval that only a parent could give to their child. She wasn't stupid, she knew that everyone had a father and a mother and while she knew who her father was, she did not have the luxury of his attention or approval. And of course, she could not gain that from her mother seeing as hers had died in an attempt to defect from Hydra.

So she had resigned herself to never getting any attention from either of her parents, and she was okay with that. A family would only distract her from her training and that was not an option. For years she had managed without her parents and so it had been quite a shock when her father had come for her and had told her that he cared about her. It was foreign to her and she didn't know how to handle somebody saying something like that.

Nobody had ever cared about her in that way before, except Fleischer, who had been her mentor and teacher for the past decade. Once upon a time, she might've even thought of him as a father figure, but she knew that was far from the truth. She may have never had a father, but she knew enough to know that fathers didn't touch their daughters like the Baron did to her. But despite his wandering hands, his lust-filled eyes and his volatile anger, her loyalty to him and his purpose was unwavering.

She was and would always be loyal to Hydra. She would succeed where the man following behind her now had failed.

He walked closely behind her as she walked to her old quarters so she could collect her things before she moved in with him and his friend in New York. This whole situation was weird, but she tried not to let that bother her as she walked. She could feel him keeping pace with her behind him, like a silent shadow stalking his prey. He said nothing and she was quite happy to keep it that way seeing as she didn't have the courage to actually hold another conversation with him at this point.

Her room was small and sterile seeing as she only had a few possessions and it was as well clean so everything would be easy to find and put away. She walked over to her closet and took the very few shirts she had and tossed them onto the bed and then grabbed her hairbrush and tossed it over with the rest of them. She wasn't going to take the mirror considering she could easily get a new one and it was too big and bulky to take with her, but she did reach down and grabbed her plain white tennis shoes as well as the pair of combat boots she owned.

"Can you grab my hair ties please?" asked Yelena as she shoved her belongings into the bag, "they're next to the mirror."

"Sure," mumbled Bucky as he went to reach for the bag of hair ties but paused when he saw the blue dress peeking out from behind the mirror. He had almost forgotten about the dress and he wondered if Yelena would want to take it with her to New York. It was the only nice article of clothing that she had and Bucky was immensely curious as to how she had come into possession of it as he gingerly picked it up and traced over the lace with his flesh thumb.

"Are you going to take this with you?" he asked but paused when he saw a flash of embarrassment and hurt pass over her delicate features. It was brief and fleeting, but Bucky had been trained in the art of body and facial language and he could tell that Yelena had been distressed at the sight of the dress.

Why would she-?

 _Oh._

 _Oh, he was such an idiot._

 _Why else would she be ashamed of a dress? A dress that happened to be the nicest thing that she owned. It was obvious that it had been given to her by someone for a special occasion and it didn't take a genius to figure out why he would give it to her._

Bucky's nostrils flared in anger as his hand involuntarily tightened around the blue silk and lace, wrinkling the expensive fabric under the crushing weight of his strength.

 _The lecherous bastard had dressed her up for his time with her._

 _He had forced her to wear the dress like she was some sort of doll that he could dress and play with._

He wanted to rip the dress to shreds and douse it in gasoline and light it up like the fourth of July. Anything to destroy the wretched dress so that Yelena wouldn't have to be reminded of _that._

He grit his teeth as he slowly rose to his feet and tried his best to wipe the animalistic expression that was threatening to surface if he didn't control it. He didn't want Yelena to see him blow up in anger like Steve had earlier during the interrogation, so he sucked in his breath and turned to face the girl that was staring at him from across the room in stunned silence.

Although he had tried his best to hide his anger, she had still seen the way he had looked at the dress. He had decided earlier that he wasn't going to confront Yelena about her sexual abuse until she was ready to talk to about it, and that was if she was ever ready to talk about it.

He knew that talking about abuse was hard and although he had never been sexually assaulted, his mind had been raped by Hydra and he didn't know if he would ever be able to fully talk to anyone about what had happened. He had told Steve a lot, but he hadn't told him everything and now that his mind was healing he could remember what it was like to slowly lose the memories one by one until he didn't even know his own name.

He remembered how hard he tried to hold onto the memory of Steve as he laid there on that table with wires and machinery stuck to his head, but eventually, he couldn't remember why he was doing that and eventually even the memory his best friend had faded away.

But now Yelena knew that he knew and he prayed to God that this wouldn't cause her to feel ashamed or embarrassed.

 _Christ she shouldn't even have to feel embarrassed or ashamed about what happened to her. But did Yelena know that?_

"No," said Yelena softly with a shake of her head, "I don't want to take it with me."

Bucky nodded stiffly as he stalked past her and deposited the dress on the bed before roughly shoving the rest of her possessions into the bag and zipped it up, his eyes drifting the dress that was lying next to him as he tried to decide if he should just leave it or destroy it.

Yelena quietly walked over to her pillow while he was busy staring at the dress and reached under it for the polaroid she had stashed under there only to find it gone. She got onto the floor and looked under the cot only to find nothing.

She was confused because she knew she had put it under her pillow, but she didn't show that to him. She didn't want him to know she had a picture of him because that was weird and embarrassing.  
"Looking for something?" he finally asked as he tore his eyes away from the dress and looked down into her brown orbs.

"Thought I dropped something," she mumbled as she took the black bag out of his hands.  
Bucky frowned, "if you want I could help you look for whatever it is you dropped?"  
Yelena shook her head, "No, I'm good."  
"You sure?" he asked, his right brow raised, "I mean it's got to be around here some-."  
"I said it's fine," she said rather harshly as she glared at the man.

Bucky clamped his mouth shut and reverted to staring at her as she slung the black bag over her shoulder in agitation. Yelena felt a guilty twinge upon saying that to him while he had been nothing but kind to her, but she just kind of wished he would leave her alone and stop bugging her. She could tell that he pitied her and after seeing the way he had looked at the dress, it was painfully obvious that he knew about what the Baron had done to her and he was angry.

" _Like any father would be,"_ came a whisper from the back of her mind as she tried to brush the thought away.

It was no surprise that he felt like he needed to be fatherly towards her because she was his daughter and that was his responsibility. But while Yelena knew that he was her biological father, he couldn't really ever be a father to her because that's just not how this shit worked. Just because she shared twenty-three chromosomes with him didn't make him instantly responsible for her. Yelena was strong, she could take herself without his or anyone else's help. Besides, why would he ever want her for a daughter?

Yelena was a failure and she felt like she could never be anything more. Her entire existence was a failure, so what else in life could she be?

She knew that Bucky had said that he cared about her, but obviously be must be delusional or he just didn't know her well enough. If he really knew about her, he would be embarrassed to be her father.

So that's why Yelena decided that she wasn't going to let Bucky be her father because she knew that it would end badly for the both of them. She needed to protect herself from the contamination that came from Shield and their mindset. Hydra was the only right mentality and she would not allow herself to become contaminated from Bucky or Steve.

Yelena didn't even bother to look back at her room one last time before she and Barnes made their way out of the room. They were about to step into the elevator when Bucky stopped and looked back in the direction of the room with an undeceive gaze.

"Stay here," he said as he started walking back, "I left something in there."

Yelena huffed as she watched him disappear around the corner. She knew what he had not left anything in there and that that was just an excuse to go back in. She had a feeling he had gone back because of the dress that had been left on the bed and her suspicion was confirmed when she heard the distinctive sound of fabric being ripped to shreds.

 _"_ _It seemed as though he couldn't help himself,"_ thought Yelena numbly as she watched Bucky stalk out of the room.

Yelena said nothing as they both made their way to the hangar where Steve would be waiting for them. She couldn't help but notice the stares she got from the other Shield Agents and she tried her hardest not to let it bother her. She didn't care what they thought of her or what kind of treatment she would get from them, but she most certainly did not want their pity. She was above them and she would never let herself forget that.

She didn't know what awaited her in New York or how her life was going to be now that her "father" was in her life. They would without a doubt try to rehabilitate her and make her fit in with society, but Yelena was not born to be normal like everyone else. She was born to be superior to them and even though she would never accomplish that, she could still hold herself to a higher standard than them.

She would escape one day and continue the work that she had been born to do.

She would not let herself become less.

She would be more.

 **AN: The dress: I was reading through the comments on this story and I remembered a comment from artemis7448 about the blue dress that Fleischer gave to Yelena and how Bucky would be pissed when he figured out why she had it. I personally enjoyed him finally figuring it out and how angry he was and then having him rip it to shreds.**

 **Sofia: A lot of you have expressed a desire to see Tony take Sofia under his wing and I agree that Tony would be the better option. Now we'll just have to see where her story goes :)**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Comment and tell me what you thought!**


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